Columbia  Umbersttp 
mti)eCitpofi|eto|9orfe 


LIBRARY 


GIVEN   BY 


(\y\^      S>  .  Ot£>a<wvfl_^ 


AMERICAN 


BIOGRAPHICAL  PANORAMA, 


BY  WILLIAM  HUNT. 


"  Hast  thou  heard  the  fall  of  water-drops  in  deep  caves,  where  heavily,  and 
perpetually,  and  knawingly  they  eat  into  the  ground  on  which  they  fall?  Hast  thou 
heard  the  murmuring  of  the  brook  that  flows  on  sportively  between  green  banks, 
whilst  nodding  flowers  and  beaming  lights  of  heaven  mirror  themselves  in  its 
waters?  There  is  a  secret  twittering  and  whispering  of  joy  in  it.  There  hast  thou 
pictures  of  two  kinds  of  life,  which  are  as  different  the  one  from  the  other  as  hell  and 
heaven.    Both  of  them  are  lived  on  earth." 

"  Not  a  May-game  is  a  good  man's  life;  not  an  idle  promenade  through  fragrant 

orange  groves,  and  green  flowery  spaces,  but  a  battle  and  a  march,  a  warfare  with 

principalities  and  powers." 


PRINTED  BY  JOEL  MUNSELL. 
1849. 


oct 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1^4l»,  by 

WILLIAM  HUNT, 

In  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Northern  District  of  New  York. 


v\ 


"< 


PREFACE. 


"A  little  babe  lay  in  the  cradle,  and  Hope  came  and  kissed  it.  The 
babe  grew  to  a  child,  and  another  friend  came  and  kissed  it.  Her  name 
was  Memory.  She  said,  "  Look  behind  thee,  and  tell  me  what  thou 
seest."  The  child  answered,  "  I  see  a  little  book."  Then  Memory  said, 
"  I  will  teach  thee  to  get  honey  from  thy  book,  that  will  be  sweet  to  thee 
when  thou  art  old."  The  youth  became  a  man,  and  at  length  age  found 
him.  The  old  man  laid  down  to  die,  and  when  his  soul  went  from  his 
body,  Memory  walked  with  it  through  the  open  gate  of  Heaven." 

IOGRAPHY  teaches  many  useful  les- 
sons, but  as  the  eye  of  the  indulgent 
reader  glances  over  the  following  im- 
perfect sketches,  let  it  be  remembered 
that  the  pen  of  the  biographer  can  nar- 
rate only  the  outward  acts  of  man.  These 
are  the  sole  guides  to  his  conclusions.  But 
there  is  another  biographer,  whose  fidelity 
can  not  be  questioned,  constantly  at  work,  da- 
guerreotyping  upon  the  mind  all  that  is  unseen 
by  the  world.  The  name  of  that  historian  is 
Memory,  the  perusal  of  whose  book  in  our  future 
existence,  will  yield  honey  or  wormwood.  What- 
ever may  have  been  the  station  of  the  body  on  earth, 
Memory  will  walk  with  the  soul  through  the  open 
gates  of  the  spirit  land;  and  the  portrait  which 
she  will  there  exhibit,  will  be  true  to  the  life.  Then, 
when  neither  restitution  can  be  offered,  nor  atone- 
ment made,  how  thrilling  will  be  the  comparison 
which  the  awakened  conscience  will  draw,  between 
what  we  might  have  done,  and  what  we  have  done ! 
The  recalling,  by  a  flash,  and  involuntarily  as  it 
were,  the  whole  of  past  life,  by  a  drowning  man, 
and  the  very  singular  peculiarity,  that  while  con- 
sciousness is  still  active  and  death  imminent,  the 


4  PREFACE. 

past  and  not  the  future  is  alone  present  to  the  mind, 
seem  to  attest  the  ineffaceable  power  of  memory, 
and  that  nothing  once  impressed  upon  this  faculty 
ever  perishes,  but  becomes  immortal  as  the  spiritual 
essence  of  which  memory  is  a  part.  The  power  to 
recall  at  will  these  impressions,  may  indeed  perish, 
but  the  impressions  themselves  never.  The  memory 
is  for  each  one  the  true  book  of  life,  where  every 
act  done  in  the  body,  and  every  good  or  evil  thought 
that  has  passed  through  the  mind,  has  its  undying 
record,  which  at  the  last  day  shall  bear  witness  of 
the  past  life  of  each. 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  by  Admiral 
Beaufort  to  Dr.  Wollaston,  in  the  Memoirs  of  Sir 
John  Barrow,  admirably  illustrate  the  above  views, 
and  must  awaken  suggestions  of  deep  interest  to 
every  thinking  mind. 

Many  years  ago,  when  I  was  a  youngster  on  board  one  of  his  majesty's 
ships  in  Portsmouth  harbor,  after  sculling  about  in  a  very  small  boat,  I 
was  endeavoring  to  fasten  her  alongside  the  ship  to  one  of  the  scuttle- 
rings.  In  foolish  eagerness  I  stepped  upon  the  gunwale,  the  boat  of 
course  upset,  and  I  fell  into  the  water,  and  not  knowing  how  to  swim,  all 
my  efforts  to  lay  hold  either  of  the  boat  or  the  floating  sculls  were  fruit- 
less. The  transaction  had  not  been  observed  by  the  sentinel  on  the 
gangway,  and  therefore  it  was  not  till  the  tide  had  drifted  me  some  dis- 
tance astern  of  the  ship,  that  a  man  in  the  foretop  saw  me  splashing  in 
the  water  and  gave  the  alarm.  The  first  lieutenant  instantly  and  gallantly 
jumped  overboard,  the  carpenter  followed  his  example,  and  a  gunner 
hastened  into  a  boat  and  pulled  after  them. 

With  the  violent  lull  vain  attempts  to  make  myself  heard,  I  swallowed 
much  water;  I  was  soon  exhausted  by  my  struggles,  and  before  any 
relief  reached  I  had  sunk  below  tin-  surface— all  hope  had  fled — all  exer- 
tion  ceased— and  I  felt  tliat  I  was  drowning. 

So  far  these  facts  were  either  partially  remembered  after  my  recovery, 
or  supplied  by  those  who  had  latterly  witnessed  the  scene;  fur  during 
an  interval  of  such  agitation  a  drowning  person  is  too  much  occupied  in 
catching  at  every  passing  straw,  or  too  absorbed  by  alternate  hope  and 
despair,  to  mark  the  succession  of  events  very  accurately.  Not  so,  how- 
ever, With  tlie  facts  which  immediately  ensued  ;  my  mind  had  then  under- 
gone the  sudden  revolution  which  appeared  to  you  so  remarkable— and 
all  the  circumstances  of  which  arc  now  as  vividly  fresh  in  my  memory 
as  if  they  had  occurred  but  yesterday. 

From  the  moment  that  every  exertion  had  ceased— -which  I  imagine 
was  the  immediate  consequence  of  complete  suffocation — a  calm  feeling 
of  the  mosl  perfect  tranquility  superseded  the  tumultuous  sensations — it 
mighl  lie  called  apathv,  certainly  not  resignation,  for  drowning  no  longer 
appeared  to  lie  an  evil— I  no  longer  thought  of  being  rescued,  nor  was  I 
in  any  bodily  pain.     On  the  contrary,  my  sensations  were  now  of  rather 


PREFACE.  5 

a  pleasurable  cast,  partaking  of  that  dull  but  contented  sort  of  feeling 
which  precedes  the  sleep  produced  by  fatigue.  Though  the  senses  were 
thus  deadened,  not  so  the  mind;  its  activity  seemed  to  be  invigo- 
rated, in  a  ratio  which  defies  all  description — for  thought  rose  after 
thought  with  a  rapidity  of  succession  that  is  not  only  indescribable 
but  probably  inconceivable,  by  any  one  who  has  not  himself  been 
in  a  similar  situation.  The  course  of  those  thoughts  I  can  even  now  in 
a  great  measure  retrace — the  event  which  had  just  taken  place — the 
awkwardness  that  had  produced  it — the  bustle  it  must  have  occasioned 
(for  I  had  observed  two  persons  jump  from  the  chains) — the  effect  it  would 
have  on  a  most  affectionate  father — the  manner  in  which  he  would  dis- 
close it  to  the  rest  of  the  family — and  a  thousand  other  circumstances 
minutely  associated  with  home,  were  the  first  series  of  reflections  that 
occurred.  They  took  then  a  wider  range — our  last  cruise — a  former 
voyage,  and  shipwreck— my  school — the  progress  I  had  made  there,  and 
the  time  I  misspent — and  even  all  my  boyish  pursuits  and  adventures. 
Thus  traveling  backwards,  every  past  incident  of  my  life  seemed  to 
glance  acYoss  my  recollection  in  retrograde  succession ;  not,  however,  in 
mere  outline,  as  here  stated,  but  the  picture  filled  up  with  every  minute 
and  collateral  feature ;  in  short  the  whole  period  of  my  existence  seemed 
to  be  placed  before  me  in  a  kind  of  panoramic  review. 

May  not  all  this  be  some  indication  of  the  almost  infinite  power  of 
memory  with  which  we  may  awaken  in  another  world,  and  thus  be  com- 
pelled to  contemplate  our  past  lives?  Or  might  it  not  in  some  degree 
warrant  the  inference,  that  death  is  only  a  change  or  modification  of 
our  existence,  in  which  there  is  no  real  pause  or  interruption?  But 
however,  that  may  be,  one  circumstance  was  highly  remarkable;  that  the 

innumerable  ideas  which  flashed  into  my  mind  were  all  retrospective 

yet  I  had  been  religiously  brought  up — my  hopes  and  fears  of  the  next 
world  had  lost  nothing  of  their  early  strength,  and  at  any  other  period, 
intense  interest  and  awful  anxiety  would  have  been  excited  by  the  mere 
probability  that  I  was  floating  on  the  threshhold  of  eternity:  yet  at  that 
inexplicable  moment  when  I  had  af  ull  conviction  that  I  had  already 

crossed  the  threshhold,  not  a  single  thought  wandered  into  the  future 

I  was  wrapt  entirely  in  the  past. 

In  this  view  then,  with  what  solemnity  is  every 
thought  and  every  act  invested,  not  only  with  refer- 
ence to  ourselves  but  to  others ! 

At  the  battle  of  Wagram,  Napoleon  found  him- 
self where  it  was  impossible  to  advance  or  retreat 
without  ruin.  Within  the  range  and  under  the 
full  fire  of  the  Austrian  guns,  the  army  of  France 
must  wait  an  expected  reinforcement  a  whole  hour's 
time,  each  man  standing  with  folded  arms  and  un- 
flinching brow,  in  all  the  dangers  of  the  hottest 
battle,  but  bereft  of  the  benefit  of  its  excitement. 
What  wonder  that  the  men  of  Lodi  quivered  and 
fell  ?  They  could  die  in  battle — that  was  nothing; 
but  to  stand  still  and  be  slaughtered — they  were  not 


b  PREFACE. 

trained  for  that.  It  was  at  this  moment,  when 
murmurings  and  weakness  spread  through  all  ranks, 
and  no  orders  were  heeded,  that  the  emperor 
mounted  his  favorite  Arabian,  and  rode  slowly  out  in 
the  sight  of  his  vast  army,  and  back  and  forth  before 
them  the  entire  hour,  within  the  range  of  the  ene- 
my's shortest  guns,  and  with  the  whole  artillery  of 
Austria  sweeping  his  course;  thus  holding  to  their 
places  that  mighty  host  of  his,  with  the  ease  that  a 
giant  holds  a  mill-stone  above  the  deep.  He  ruled 
by  example. 

And  who  is  there,  who  does  not,  in  a  greater  or 
less  degree,  rule  by  example !  Desponding  man  of 
virtue,  how  do  you  know  how  many  are  kept  in 
their  places  by  your  perseverance  in  the  right  way! 
Man  of  vice,  in  high  station,  influenced  by  your  ex- 
ample, but  unknown  to  you,  what  numbers  are 
turning  traitors  to  themselves ! 

We  see  not  in  life  the  end  of  human  actions.  In 
every  widening  circle  their  influence  reaches  be- 
yond the  grave.  Every  morning  when  we  go  forth, 
we  lay  the  moulding  hand  on  our  destiny  and  that 
of  others;  and  every  evening  when  we  have  done, 
we  have  left  a  deathless  impress  upon  character. 
We  have  not  a  thought  but  vibrates  along  the  moral 
telegraphic  into  eternity,  and  reports  at  the  throne 
of  God. 

It  is  related  of  Bishop  Latimer,  that  when  called 
up  for  private  examination  before  his  popish  perse- 
cutors, he  was  not  at  first  very  particular,  as  to  the 
expressions  he  made  use  of  in  his  replies;  "but," 
added  that  holy  martyr,  when  narrating  the  circum- 
stance, "I  soon  heard  the  pen  going  behind  the 
arras,  and  found  that  all  I  said  was  taken  down, 
and  then  I  was  careful  enough  of  what  I  uttered." 

And  would  that  we  could  always  realize  the  fact, 
that  while  we  are  acting,  talking  or  thinking,  every 
word  and  thought  is  recorded  above  as  soon  as  en- 
gendered here! 


CONTENTS. 


Adams,  John  Quincy 178  Draper,  Simeon 295 

Adams,  John 47  Ellery,  William 62 

Adams,  Samuel 52  Ellis,  S 417 

Adams,  Louisa  Catherine. . . .  185  Floyd,  William 63 

Austin,  J.  J 426  Franklin,  Benjamin 65 

Albright,  John 478  Fillmore,  Millard 459 

Bronson,  C.  P 408  Gregg,  Samuel 404 

Brooks,  Peter  C 339  Gerry,  Elbridge 75 

Briggs,  George  N 321  Gwinnett,  Button 77 

Blackwell,  Elizabeth 430  Gustin,   Lydia 479 

Benton,  Thomas  H 244  Harrison,  W.  H 199 

Bryant,  David 374  Hitchcock,  F 403 

Braxton,  Carter 56  Hall,  Lyman 81 

Bostwick,  Homer 411  Hammond,  J.  D 326 

Bullard,  Walter 450  Hancock,  John 82 

Bradish,  Luther 455  Hamblin,  S.  J 335 

Beach,  Wooster 462  Harrison,  Benjamin 84 

Collamer,  Jacob, 299  Holmes,  Oliver  W 341 

Clay,  Henry 236  Hart,  John 86 

Chapin,  D 429  Hayward,  Thomas 87 

Coventry,  C.  B 363  Hamilton,  Frank  H 349 

Carroll,  Charles 57  Hewes,  Joseph 89 

Cornell,  W.  M 360  Hale,  John  K 354 

Chase,  Samuel 59  Hooper,  William 90 

Clark,  Alvan 435  Hopkins,  Stephen 91 

Clark,  Abraham 60  Hopkinson,  Francis 93 

Clymer,  George 61  Huntington,  Samuel 94 

Dexter,  G.  M 427  Hunt,  Sen.,  Sanford 254 

Dean,  Amos 443  Hunt,  Washington 258 

Dunn,  R.  B 476  Hunt,  Jun.,  Sanford 264 


s 


CONTENTS. 


Ives,  Willard 407 

Jackson,  Charles  T 368 

Jackson,  Andrew 187 

Jefferson,   Thomas 96 

Johns,  Kensey 318 

Kittredge,  E.  A 414 

Lee,  Henry  Richard 99 

Lee,  Francis  Lightfoot 101 

Lewis,  Francis 102 

Livingston,  Philip 104 

Livingston,  Robert  R. 106 

Lynch,  Jun.,  Thomas 115 

Libby,  James 457 

Marston,  E 420 

McKean,  Thomas 118 

Matsell,  G.  W 443 

Middleton,  Arthur 119 

Morris,  Robert 121 

Marsh,  Charles 301 

Morris,  Lewis 123 

Morton,  John 125 

Madison,  James 170 

Madison,  D.  P 172 

Monroe,  James 175 

Nott,  Eliphalet 453 

Nelson,  Thomas 126 

Newton,  John 279 

O'Neil,  C 422 

Piatt,  Jonathan 298 

Polk,  James  K. 202 

Parker,  Amasa  J 376 

Payne,  Worden 475 

Paca,  William 128 

Paine,  Robert  Treat 129 

Penn,  John 131 

Pilsbury,  Amos 388 

Read,  George 132 


Rodney,   Csesar 133 

Ross,  George 134 

Rush,  Benjamin 135 

Rutledge,   Edward 138 

Ray,  Gilbert 479 

Stewart,  Charles  S 266 

Stewart  Harriet  B 273 

Sherman,  Roger 140 

Smith,    James 143 

Stockton,  Richard 144 

Street,  Alfred  B 311 

Stone,  Thomas 150 

Sigourney,  Lydia  H 214 

Smith,  M.  B 419 

Sears,  Robert 356 

Smilie,  E.  R 399 

Tompkins,  Patrick  W 304 

Taylor,  Zachary 204 

Tremain,  Lyman 288 

Taylor,  George 151 

Tyler,  John 201 

Thornton,   Matthew 152 

Van  Buren,  Martin 196 

Walton,    George 154 

Ward,  Ulysses 305 

Whipple,  William 157 

Williams,  William 159 

Wilson,  James 160 

Webster,  Daniel 207 

Wool,  John  E 22r 

Washington,   George 9 

Washington,  Martha 28 

Washington,  Mary 31 

Washington,  William  H 38 

Washington,  Bushrod 40 

Winslow,  Richard 472 


AMERICAN  BIOGRAPHICAL  PANORAMA. 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

"  Where  shall  the  weary  eye  repose, 

When  gazing  on  the  great; 
Where  neither  guilty  glory  glows 

Nor  despicable  state? 
Yes — one — the  first — the  last — the  best — 
The  Cincinnatus  of  the  West, 
Bequeathed  the  name  of  Washington, 
To  make  man  blush  there  was  but  one." 

"  When  Washington  was  born  Freedom  wept  for  joy." 

y^jfMALMLY  beneath  the  moon-beams  sleeps  the 
i%i\  Potomac  in  the  hush  of  the  holy  night. 
There  is  not  a  sound  save  the  dreamy  mur- 
murs of  the  wind  through  the  tall  trees  that 
stretch  along  the  shore,  and  the  low  musical 
chime  of  the  rippling  waters,  which,  reflecting 
a  silvery  light  on  every  wavelet,  soft  as  the  memory 
of  first  love,  seem  like  a  sea  of  gems.  The  green 
slopes  of  Mount  Vernon  lie  peacefully  on  the  river's 
bosom,  as  if  no  sound  of  war-like  preparations  had 
ever  echoed  through  its  groves,  or  the  steps  of  mar- 
tial feet  crushed  down  its  dewy  flowers.  The  stars 
are  glittering  without  a  cloud  to  obscure  their  light; 
and  the  full  moon,  sweetly,  calmly,  like  a  good  man 
gliding  in  peace  to  the  land  of  sleepers,  is  sinking 
to  her  wavy  couch.  She  has  risen  upon  rich  and 
powerful  states,  and  has  glittered  upon  their  monu- 
ments. Imperial  Rome,  rich  in  empire,  was  beheld 
by  her  who  now  casts  her  mystic  and  undimmed 
light  upon  its  magnificent  ruins.  Unchanging  and 
unchangeable,  she  has  looked  down  from  her  silent 
2 


10  GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 

home  upon  forgotten  Thebes,  sceptreless  Larissa, 
and  unremembered  Phillippi,  as  she  did  when  the 
world  trembled  at  their  frown  or  perished  beneath 
their  tread.  Cities  have  changed  and  passed  away ; 
nations  have  arisen  and  decayed  ;  like  the  dew  they 
have  gone,  and  her  course  is  still  onward.  Bat  nes- 
tled among  green  bowers,  and  bathed  in  her  mild 
beams,  is  a  sacred  spot,  which  contains  the  ashes  of 
a  man,  whose  name  shall  shine  among  the  just 
when  her  light  shall  have  been  extinguished  in  the 
ocean  of  Time.  It  is  the  last  resting  place  of  "the 
greatest  man  who  ever  lived  in  this  world,  unin- 
spired by  divine  wisdom  and  unsustained  by  super- 
natural virtue."  It  is  the  tomb  of  Washington  and 
of  Martha  his  wife. 

The  ancestors  of  Washington  may  be  traced  for 
a  considerable  distance  among  the  old  English  gen- 
try in  Lancashire.  There  was  a  manor  of  that 
name  in  the  county  of  Durham,  and  about  the  year 
1250,  William  de  Hertburn,  the  proprietor,  assumed 
the  name  of  his  estate.  From  him  the  Washington 
family  have  descended. 

Samuel  Fnllaway,  Esq.,  gives  an  interesting  ac- 
count of  a  monument  in  England,  erected  to  the 
memory  of  some  of  the  ancestors  of  our  beloved 
patriot. 

The  monument  in  question  is  in  Garsdon,  Wilt- 
shire. The  village  of  Garsdon  is  about  two  miles 
from  Malmsbnry,  and  the  church  is  an  ancient 
Gothic  edifice,  situated  in  the  bosom  of  a  rich  coun- 
try, and  surrounded  with  venerable  trees.  The 
country  people  have  for  many  years  been  in  the 
habit  of  conducting  strangers  to  "the  church,  for  the 
purpose  of  pointing  out  the  venerable  memorial  of 
the  Washington  Family — in  former  ages  the  lords 
of  the  manor  of  Garsdon,  and  the  residents  of  the 
Court  House,  a  building  of  the  olden  time — gray  with 
the  lapse  of  centuries. 

The  monument  was  once  a  superb  specimen  of 


GEORGE    WASHINGTON.  11 

the  mural  style — and  even  now  exhibits  relics  of 
richness  and  curious  workmanship.     It  is  to  be  seen 
in  the  chance],  on  the  left  side  of  the  altar,  and  is 
richly  carved  out  of  the  stone  of  that  part  of  the 
country.     It  is  surmounted  with  the  family  coat  of 
arms,  which  form  a  rich  emblazonment  of  heraldry; 
and  although  two  hundred  years  have  rolled  awayy 
since  it  was  erected,  they  are  still  burnished  with 
gilding. 

The  following  are  the  inscriptions : 

TO    YE 

MEMORY  OF 
SIR  LAWRENCE  WASHINGTON,  Nite, 

Lately  Chief  Register 

OF    YE 

CHAUNCERYE, 

Of  Renowne,  Pyely,  and  Charytie, 

An  Exemplarye  and  Lovinge  Husband,  A  Tender 

Father,  A  Bountefull   Master,  A  Constante 

Reliever  of  ye  Poore ;  And  to  Thoas 

Of  his  Parish,  A  Perpetuall 

Benefactor; 

Whom  it  Pleased 

G  ,D  TO  TAKE  INTO  IS  PEACE, 

From  the  Furye  of  the  Insuing  Wans. 

Born  May  XIV. 

He  Was  Heare  Interrd, 

May  XXIV.  An.  Dni,  1643. 

iETAT.  SUiE,  64. 

Heare  Also  Lyeth 

DAME    ANNE, 

IS  WIFE,  WHO   DECEASED 

January  XIHth ;  And  Who 

Was  Buryed  XVIth, 

Anno  Dni.  1645. 

Hie  Palrios  cineras,  curavit  filius  urna, 

Condere  qui  Tamulo,  nuncjacet  ille  pius. 

The  pyous  Son  His  Parents  here  interrd, 
Who  hath  his  share  in  time,  for  them  prepared. 


12  GEORGE    WASHINGTON. 

The  old  Manor  House  of  Garsdon  is  now  occu- 
pied by  a  respectable,  and,  indeed,  opulent  farmer, 
named  Woody — two  of  whose  sons  lately  came 
over  to  this  country  in  the  ship  Philadelphia,  and 
are  gone  back  into  the  state  of  Ohio.  Mr.  Woody 
rents  his  farm  and  house  of  Lord  Andover.  This 
ancient  seat  of  the  Washington  family  is  handsome, 
very  old-fashioned,  and  built  of  stone,  with  im- 
mense solidity  and  strength.  The  timber  about  it 
is  chiefly  British  oak,  and  in  several  of  the  rooms, 
particularly  in  a  large  one,  which  was  the  old  hall 
or  banquetting-room — there  are  rich  remains  of 
gilding,  carved  work  in  cornices,  ceilings  and  pan- 
els, polished  floors  and  wainscoting — with  shields 
containing  the  same  coat  of  arms  as  on  the  mural 
monument  in  the  church,  carved  over  the  high, 
venerable  and  architectural  mantel-pieces.  Beneath 
the  house  are  extensive  cellars,  which,  with  the 
banquetting-room,  would  seem  to  indicate  the  genu- 
ine hospitality  and  princely  style  of  living  peculiar 
to— 

"A  fine  old  English  gentleman, 
All  of  the  olden  time." 

And,  indeed,  according  to  the  traditions  and  chroni- 
cles of  the  country,  such  was  the  general  charac- 
ter of  the  heads  of  the  Washington  family.  Soon 
after  the  civil  war,  the  family  left  their  ancient 
seat,  and  removed  to  another  part  of  the  kingdom — 
but  an  old  man  now  living  in  the  village,  named 
Reeves,  who  is  ninety  years  of  age,  states  that  he 
remembers  one  of  the  Washingtons  living  in  that 
part  of  the  country,  when  he  was  a  boy;  and  that 
his  great-grandfather  remembered  the  last  Squire 
Washington  living  at  the  Manor  House.  The  walls 
of  the  house  are  five  feet  thick,  and  the  entire  resi- 
dence is  surrounded  by  a  beautiful  garden  and  or- 
chards. In  the  old  parish  archives  the  Washington 
family  are  constantly  referred  to  as  the  benefactors 
of  the  parish ;  and  from  the  very  earliest  recorded 
times,  they  seem  to  have  been  the  Lords  of  the  soil 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON.  13 

at  Garsdon,  down  to  the  period  of  their  leaving — 
when  the  Manor  House  fell  into  the  hands  of  a  fa- 
mily named  Dobbs. 

From  the  Church  and  Manor  or  Court  House  of 
Garsdon,  there  are  the  remains  of  an  ancient  paved 
causeway,  extending  for  about  two  miles,  to  the  far- 
famed  Abbey  and  cloisters  of  Malmesbury,  founded 
and  endowed  by  King  Athelstan — not  only  cele- 
brated for  its  power  and  splendor  in  Catholic  days, 
but  also  as  being  the  birth  place  and  residence  of 
William  of  Malmesbury,  one  of  the  earliest  of 
British  historians. 

In  the  year  1657  John  and  Lawrence  "Washington, 
brothers  of  Sir  William  Washington,  immigrated  to 
Virginia  and  settled  at  Bridge  Creek,  on  the  Poto- 
mac, in  the  county  of  Westmoreland.  John  died  in 
1697,  leaving  two  sons,  John  and  Augustine.  The 
latter  was  twice  married,  having  three  sons  and  a 
daughter  by  his  first  wife,  Jane  Butler;  and  four 
sons  and  two  daughters  by  the  second,  Mary  Ball, 
to  whom  he  was  united  on  the  6th  of  March,  1730. 
George,  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  was  the  eldest 
son  by  the  second  marriage.  He  was  born  on  the 
22d  February,  1732,  and  was  the  sixth  in  descent 
from  the  first  Lawrence  Washington.  The  father 
of  the  future  hero  died  in  1743,  leaving,  as  the  fruit 
of  his  own  exertions,  a  large  estate  in  land,  out  of 
which  he  demised  a  separate  plantation  to  each  of 
his  sons.  George  received  the  paternal  residence 
and  adjacent  estate  in  Stafford  county,  on  the  Bap- 
pahannoc.  This  occurred  when  George  was  not 
more  than  eleven  years  of  age,  and  the  cares  of  a 
large  family  devolved  upon  his  young  mother.  But 
gifted  with  a  strong  mind,  she  performed  her  duty 
with  fidelity  and  success. 

A  beautiful  eastern  allegory,  setting  forth  the 
power  of  maternal  influence,  says,  "  The  rose  was  of 
a  pure  and  spotless  white,  when  in  Eden  it  first  spread 
out  its  leaves  to  the  morning  sunlight  of  creation. 


14  GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 

Eve,  the  mother  of  mankind,  the  first  time  she 
gazed  upon  the  tintless  gem,  could  not  impress  her 
admiration  of  its  beauty,  and  stooping  down,  im- 
printed a  kiss  upon  its  sunny  bosom.  The  rose 
stole  the  scarlet  tinge  from  her  velvet  lips  and  yet 
wears  it." 

So  to  Mary  the  mother  of  Washington  are  we  in- 
debted for  the  glowing  tints  of  virtue,  which  she 
impressed  upon  the  heart  of  her  son,  to  whose  glory 
royalty  could  not  add  a  single  ray,  and  of  whom 
one  of  the  mightiest  conquerors  of  modern  times 
exclaimed  with  a  sigh:  "His  name  shall  live  as 
the  founder  of  a  great  republic,  when  mine  shall 
have  been  lost  in  the  vortex  of  revolutions." 

George  received  only  a  common  English  educa- 
tion, and  never  learned  any  foreign  language,  either 
dead  or  living.  During  the  last  year  he  was  at  school, 
he  devoted  himself  to  the  study  of  surveying,  and 
the  correlative  sciences,  for  which  he  manifested  a 
strong  practical  taste.  From  his  earliest  years  he 
was  studious  and  thoughtful,  and  such  was  his  de- 
meanor, that  his  companions  always  made  him  um- 
pire in  cases  of  dispute.  Truth  and  strict  integrity 
were  his  prominent  characteristics,  of  which,  says 
Lossing,  the  following  will  serve  as  an  illustration: 
"  In  company  with  other  boys  he  secured  a  fiery 
colt,  belonging  to  his  mother,  yet  unbroken  to  the 
bit.  The  affrighted  animal  Jashed  furiously  across 
the  fields,  and  in  his  violent  exertions,  burst  a  blood 
vessel  and  died.  The  colt  was  a  valuable  one,  and 
many  youths  would  have  sought  an  evasive  excuse. 
Not  so  with  George.  He  went  immediately  to  his 
mother,  and  stating  plainly  all  the  circumstances, 
asked  her  forgiveness,  which  of  course  was  readily 
granted.  Her  reply  is  remarkable:  "Young  man, 
I  forgive  you,  because  you  have  the  courage  to  tell 
the  truth  at  once;  had  you  skulked  away,  I  should 
have  despised  you." 

When  fourteen  years  of  age,  he  received  a  mid- 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON.  15 

shipman's  warrant  in  the  British  navy,  but  relin- 
quished his  ardent  ambition  to  accept  it,  at  the  soli- 
citations of  his  widowed  mother.  In  1748  he  was 
appointed  to  survey  Lord  Fairfax's  lands,  and  next 
year  received  the  appointment  of  a  public  surveyor. 
In  1751  he  was  commissioned  an  adjutant-general 
with  the  rank  of  major,  by  the  government  of  Vir- 
ginia, with  the  pay  of  .£150  a  year,  to  drill  the  mili- 
tia of  a  district  in  anticipation  of  incursions  from 
Indians  and  French.  In  September  he  sailed  with 
his  consumptive  brother,  Lawrence,  to  Barbadoes, 
where  he  was  attacked  with  the  small  pox.  In 
1752  his  brother  returned  from  Bermuda  to  die,  and 
George  was  the  active  executor  of  his  will.  During 
this  year  also,  Gov.  Dinwiddie  assigned  the  north- 
ern division  of  Virginia  to  the  military  command 
of  young  Washington.  In  1753  he  was  appointed 
by  Gov.  Dinwiddie,  commissioner  to  treat  with  the 
French  commandant,  concerning  the  invasion  of 
the  settlements  of  the  English  by  the  latter.  He 
made  an  address  to  some  Indian  chiefs  at  Logstown, 
requesting,  according  to  his  instructions,  an  escort, 
which  they  granted.  He  reached  the  French  post 
after  a  journey  of  forty-one  days,  having  traversed 
a  most  dangerous,  cheerless,  and  difficult  route  of 
five  hundred  and  sixty  miles.  His  journey  back  in 
December,  abounded  in  terrible  risks  and  severe 
sufferings;  but  he  arrived  at  Williamsburgh  safely, 
on  the  16th  of  January,  1754.  His  journal  was 
printed  by  order  of  Gov.  Dinwiddie,  in  order  to  arouse 
the  English  to  resistance  to  the  designs  avowed  by 
the  French  commandant  in  his  interview  with 
Major  Washington,  and  two  hundred  men  were 
enlisted,  over  whom  the  latter  was  placed  in  chief 
command,  on  account  of  his  courage  and  discretion 
as  exhibited  in  the  execution  of  his  commission. 
In  1754  the  Virginia  troops  were  increased  to  six 
companies,  and  Washington  was  promoted  to  the 
second  command,  the  lieutenant-colonelcy,  Colonel 


16  GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 

Joshua  Fry  being  commander-in-chief  of  the  re- 
cruits. With  three  companies  he  pressed  into  the 
wilderness,  and  on  the  25th  of  May  fought  the  skir- 
mish of  the  Great  Meadows,  with  a  loss  of  one  killed 
and  three  wounded.  Jumonville,  the  leader  of  the 
French  party,  and  ten  of  his  men,  were  killed;  and 
twenty-two  taken  prisoners.  It  was  in  this  fray 
that  he  heard  the  bullets  whistle,  and  felt — accord- 
ing to  the  popular  but  ill-authenticated  anecdote — 
that  there  was  "  something  charming  in  the  sound." 
In  June,  Col.  Fry  died,  and  Washington  was  ap- 
pointed to  the  chief  command  of  the  Virginia  regi- 
ment, with  a  colonel's  commission.  In  July,  after 
an  advance,  he  retreated  to  the  Great  Meadows, 
fortified  Fort  Necessity,  a  name  chosen  by  himself, 
and  on  the  third  day  of  the  month,  fought  the  battle 
of  the  Great  Meadows.  On  the  fourth,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  immense  superiority  of  the  French 
forces,  he  capitulated  after  fighting  all  day.  For 
his  gallantry,  he  received  a  vote  of  thanks  from  the 
Virginia  house  of  burgesses.  An  enlargement  of 
the  army  shortly  after,  reduced  him  to  the  rank  of 
captain,  and  he  resigned  his  commission. 

Gen.  Braddock  arrived  at  Virginia  with  two  regi- 
ments of  British  regulars,  in  March,  1755,  and  re- 
quested Washington  to  be  a  member  of  his  military 
family,  and  accompany  the  expedition  against  the 
French.  Washington  joined  the  army  as  a  volun- 
teer colonel.  He  gave  a  plan  of  march,  which  pre- 
vailed in  a  council  of  war;  and  although  detained 
with  the  rear  division  of  the  army  for  nearly  two 
weeks,  by  a  raging  fever,  he  overtook  Braddock  the 
evening  before  the  battle  of  the  Monongahela,  which 
occurred  July  9th,  1755,  and  is  known  as  the  me- 
lancholy defeat  of  Braddock;*  memorable  for  the 

*  The  Last  of  Braddock's  Men.— The  Lancaster  (Ohio,)  Gazette  an- 
nounces the  death,  at  that  place,  on  the  4th  of  January,  184<>,  of  Samuel 
Jenkins,  a  colored  man,  aged  one  hundred  and  fifteen  years.  He  was  born 
a  slave,  the  property  of  Capt.  Broadwater,  in  Fairfax  county,  Virginia,  in 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON.  17 

loss  of  nearly  half  the  English  army,  and  for  the 
fact  that  Washington's  fame  seemed  to  take  root 
in  the  very  scenes,  which  were  so  shameful  and 
disastrous  to  all  his  superior  officers.  He  was  now 
twenty-three  years  old.  He  was  appointed,  August 
14th,  to  the  command  of  the  Virginia  troops.*  In 
1758,  under  the  inspiring  counsels  of  Pitt,  the  cam- 
paign hegan  to  be  prosecuted  offensively  against 
the  French.  Washington  commanded  the  advance 
party  in  the  march,  which  resulted  in  the  bloodless 
capture  of  Fort  Duquesne  on  the  25th  of  November, 
1758.  He  resigned  his  commission  soon  after,  re- 
ceived a  flattering  address  from  his  brother  officers, 
and  retired  from  the  army. 

He  married  Mrs.  Martha  Custis,  widow  of  John 
Parke  Custis,  and  daughter  of  John  Dandridge, 
January  6th,  1759.  Mrs.  Custis  was  the  mother  of 
two  children  by  her  former  husband.  His  marriage 
added  more  than  one  thousand  dollars  to  his  fortune. 
He  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Virginia  house  of 
burgesses,  without  his  own  solicitation,  and  retained 
this  office  until  1764.  He  then  retired,  and  occu- 
pied himself  solely  as  a  planter. 

1734.  He  drove  his  master's  provision  wagon  over  the  Alleghany  Moun- 
tains, in  the  memorable  campaign  of  Gen.  Braddock,  and  remained  in 
service  at  the  Big  Meadows  until  its  close.  He  was  held  as  a  slave  until 
about  forty  years  ago,  when,  upon  the  death  of  his  master,  he  was  pur- 
chased by  a  gentlemen,  who  brought  him  to  the  state  of  Ohio,  and  thus 
released  him  from  bondage.  Soon  after  his  liberation  he  settled  in  Lan 
caster,  where  he  continued  to  reside  until  his  death.  Although  his  bodily 
frame  had  given  way,  he  retained  his  mental  faculties  to  the  last.  It  is 
thought  he  was  the  last  man  living,  either  white  or  colored,  who  served 
in  Braddock's  expedition  in  1755,  against  the  French  and  Indians. 

*  He  went  on  to  Boston  to  petition  Gen.  Shirley,  commander-in-chief 
of  his  majesty's  forces  in  America,  to  settle  a  question  of  rank  between 
himself  and  a  recusant  captain.  He  was  received  with  marks  of  great 
curiosity  arid  respect  in  the  cities  along  his  route.  While  at  New  York 
he  was  the  guest  of  Mr.  Beverly  Robinson,  and  there  became  enamored 
with  Miss  Mary  Phillips,  a  sister  of  Mrs.  Robinson,  but  failed  to  prosecute 
his  suit  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  a  rival  in  the  field.  He  seemed  to  have 
an  ambition  too  large  to  condescend  to  be  the  competitor  of  another  in 
the  emulation  of  love.  The  lady  married  Capt.  Morris,  the  rival  alluded 
to. — Lit.  Mag. 

3 


J  8  GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 

He  took  early  and  decided  ground  against  the 
evident  attempts  of  the  British  ministry  to  assert 
unheard-of  rights  over  the  colonies.  He  was  one 
of  the  eighty-nine  delegates  of  the  Virginia  house 
of  burgesses,  who  after  being  dismissed  by  the 
alarmed  governor,  on  account  of  their  solemn  re- 
monstrances against  the  Boston  Port  Bill,  met  in  a 
tavern  to  reiterate  their  sentiments,  and  proposed 
the  first  congress.  When  the  convention  of  Wil- 
liamsburg met,  August  1st,  1774,  Washington  was 
present,  and  was  one  of  the  seven  delegates  ap- 
pointed to  attend  the  general  congress,  which  was 
opened  September  1st.  He  was  present,  and  his 
conduct  in  this  body  called  out  the  celebrated  eulogy 
of  Patrick  Henry,  in  answer  to  a  question  from  a 
friend:  "If  you  speak  of  eloquence,  Mr.  Rutledge, 
of  South  Carolina,  is  by  far  the  greatest  orator;  but 
if  you  speak  of  solid  information  and  sound  judg- 
ment, Col.  Washington  is  unquestionably  the  great- 
est man  on  that  floor."  In  1775  he  was  chosen  a 
delegate  to  the  second  continental  congress.  The 
sons  of  New  England  had  already  shed  their  blood 
at  Lexington  and  Concord,  and  congress  went  at 
once  to  work  to  provide  for  the  defence  of  the 
country. 

He  was  unanimously  chosen  commander-in-chief 
of  the  continental  army,  on  the  first  ballot  in  con- 
gress, on  the  16th  of  June,  1775.  He  accepted  the 
office,  declining  the  pay  of  $500  a  month  offered  by 
congress,  and  proposing  to  keep  an  account  of  his 
expenses,  which  might  be  liquidated  by  the  conti- 
nent. On  the  3d  of  July,  he  took  command  of  the 
army  at  Cambridge,  Mass.  Boston,  after  being 
thoroughly  invested  by  the  American  army  under 
Washington,  was  evacuated  by  Gen.  Howe  and  the 
British  troops,  March  17th,  1776;  for  which  blood- 
less achievement  the  commander-in-chief  received 
a  gold  medal  from  congress.  He  shortly  after  mov- 
ed the  American  army  to  New  York,  and  took  the 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON.  19 

command  on  the  13th  of  April.  On  the  9th  of  July, 
he  received  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
ordered  it  to  be  read  to  the  army  at  6  p.  m.  At  this 
time,  Gen.  Howe  and  the  British  army  were  quar- 
tered at  Staten  Island.  The  battle  of  Long  Island 
occurred  on  the  17th  of  August,  between  15,000 
British  and  5,000  Americans.  The  latter  were  beat- 
en, and  Washington  ordered  the  memorable  retreat 
to  New  York  on  the  29th. 

The  evacuation  of  New  York,  the  slight  flush  of 
victory  on  Haerlem  Heights,  the  disaster  of  Chat- 
terton's  Hill,  the  capture  of  Fort  Washington,  the 
evacuation  of  Fort  Lee,  followed  rapidly,  and  under 
these  reverses  Washington  bore  up  nobly,  inspiring 
his  army  and  advising  congress,  and  becoming  the 
soul  of  the  war.  On  December  27th,  1776,  he  was 
invested  with  absolute  military  control  by  congress, 
and  thenceforward  the  American  revolution  was 
confided  to  his  single  direction.  On  the  26th,  the 
tide  of  fortune  had  begun  to  turn  at  the  victory  of 
Trenton,  won  with  the  loss  of  only  two  Americans 
killed,  while  the  enemy  lost  about  thirty  killed  and 
a  thousand  prisoners.  On  the  od  of  January,  Wash- 
ington gained  the  victory  of  Princeton,  at  which 
one  hundred  of  the  enemy  were  killed  and  three 
hundred  captured.  The  country  rang  with  the 
praises  of  its  hero.  He  had  now  fired  the  Ameri- 
cans with  his  own  spirit. 

On  September  1  Ith,  1777,  the  fierce,  unequal  and 
unfortunate  battle  of  Brandywine  was  fought,  but 
no  confidence  was  lost  in  Washington,  who  was 
immediately  endowed  with  yet  higher  powers  than 
before.  The  bloody  fight  of  Germantown,  with 
bright  beginning  and  disastrous  ending,  occurred 
October  4th,  under  Washington's  direction,  and  was 
considered,  on  the  whole,  favorable  to  the  American 
cause,  as  showing  the  valor  of  raw  troops  under  a 
brave  commander. 

About  this  time  Conway's  cabal,  in  which  Gene- 


20  GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 

rals  Gates  and  Mifflin  figured  largely,  was  in  full 
progress,  but  Washington  took  no  pains  to  defeat  it, 
although  it  was  aimed  at  his  own  overthrow.  Al- 
though it  had  supporters  in  congress,  the  miserable 
scheme  was  scorched  up  in  public  contempt,  and 
Conway,  when  once  in  apprehension  of  speedy 
death,  made  most  humble  concessions  to  the  lofty 
mark  of  his  malice.  The  terrible  winter  of  1778-9 
at  Valley  Forge  called  out  all  the  magnificent  re- 
sources of  greatness  which  Washington  possessed, 
and  is  one  of  the  brightest  passages  in  his  immortal 
history.  April  22d,  congress,  with  the  decided  ap- 
proval of  the  commander-in-chief,  unanimously  re- 
jected Lord  North's  conciliatory  bills.  The  victory  of 
Monmouth  was  won  under  his  personal  command 
on  June  28th.  He  ordered  the  terrible  storming  of 
Stony  Point,  which  was  successful,  under  General 
Wayne,  July  15th,  1779. 

Yorktown  and  Gloucester  were  surrendered  by 
Lord  Cornwallis  on  the  17th  of  October,  1781,  on 
terms  prescribed  by  Washington.  May  22d,  1782, 
he  wrote  his  indignant  reply  to  the  letter,  which 
proposed  the  establishment  of  an  American  mon- 
archy, with  himself  for  its  head.  On  March  15th  he 
made  the  celebrated  address  to  his  officers,  which 
quieted  their  discontent  and  renewed  their  faith  in 
congress  and  in  their  country.  His  farewell  speech 
to  the  army  was  made  public  on  the  second  of  No- 
vember, 1783.  On  December  4th,  he  held  his  last 
affecting  interview  with  his  officers,  and  on  the  25th 
of  the  same  month  resigned  his  office,  determined 
to  devote  himself  forever  to  retirement,  refusing  to 
the  last  the  most  strenuous  offers  of  pecuniary 
recompense  for  any  of  his  eminent  services. 

On  December  4th  he  was  appointed  by  the  Vir- 
ginia legislature  a  delegate  to  a  general  convention 
of  the  states,  December  4th,  1786;  and  on  May 
14th,  1787,  he  was  elected  president  of  the  con- 
vention. 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON.  21 

The  constitution  was  proposed  by  this  convention 
and  he  was  unanimously  elected  First  President  of 
the  United  States  in  April,  1789.  He  was  inau- 
gurated April  30th,  in  New  York,  which  was  then 
the  seat  of  the  government.  In  1793,  in  answer  to 
the  urgent  solicitation  of  distinguished  statesmen  of 
both  the  parties  which  had  begun  to  divide  the  coun- 
try, he  accepted  a  second  election  to  the  presidency. 
He  signed  his  celebrated  proclamation  of  neutrality, 
with  regard  to  the  European  war  growing  out  of  the 
French  revolution,  which  called  down  on  his  head 
for  the  first  time,  the  malignity  of  mere  partisan  ani- 
mosity. Congress  sustained  the  proclamation  with 
apparent  unanimity.  In  October,  1794,  he  took 
command  of  the  army  raised  to  put  down  the 
Whiskey  rebellion  in  Pennsylvania,  but  returned  in 
consequence  of  hearing  that  hostilities  would  pro- 
bably be  unnecessary.  He  signed  the  treaty  with 
Great  Britain  on  the  18th  of  August,  1795.  His 
Farewell  Address — one  of  the  most  extraordinary 
documents  that  ever  came  from  the  pen  of  man — 
was  published  September  loth,  1796.  The  insolent 
demand  of  money  by  the  executive  directory  of 
France,  induced  congress  to  authorize  the  enlist- 
ment of  ten  thousand  men,  and  to  appoint  Wash- 
ington to  the  command  of  the  army,  July  2nd,  1798. 
The  difficulty  was  however  settled  amicably.  He 
died,  painfully  but  trustfully,  on  the  14th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1799.  We  speak  the  literal  truth,  when  we 
say  that  the  nation  went  into  mourning  over  the 
sad  event. 

How  grateful  the  relief,  says  Brougham,  which 
the  friend  of  mankind,  the  lover  of  virtue  experi- 
ences, when  his  eye  rests  upon  the  greatest  of  our 

OWN  OR  OF  ANY  OTHER  AGE. 

In  Washington  we  truly  behold  a  marvelous  con- 
trast to  almost  every  one  of  the  endowments  and 
vices  which  we  have  been  contemplating;  and  which 
are  so  well  fitted  to  excite  a  mingled  admiration,  and 


22  GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 

sorrow,  and  abhorrence.     With  none  of  that  bril- 
liant genius  which  dazzles  ordinary  minds ;  with  not 
even  any  remarkable  quickness  of  apprehension; 
with  knowledge  less  than  almost  all  persons  in  the 
middle  ranks,  and  many  well  educated  of  the  hum- 
bler classes  possess;  this  eminent  person  is  presented 
to  our  observation  clothed  in  attributes  as  modest 
and  unpretending,  and  as  little  calculated  to  strike 
or  to  astonish,  as  if  he  had  passed  unknown  through 
some  secluded  region  of  private  life.     But  he  had  a 
judgment  sure  and  sound;    a   steadiness  of  mind 
winch  never  suffered  any  passion,  or  even  any  feel- 
ing to  ruffle  its  calm ;  a  strength  of  understanding 
which  worked  rather  than  forced  its  way  through 
all  obstacles — removing   or   avoiding   rather   than 
overleaping  them.     His  courage,  whether  in  battle 
or  in  council,  was  as  perfect  as  might  be  expected 
from  this  pure  and  steady  temper  of  soul.     A  per- 
fectly just  man,  with  a  thoroughly  firm  resolution 
never  to  be  misled  by  others,  any  more  than  by  oth- 
ers overawed;  never  to  be  seduced  or  betrayed,  or 
hurried  away  by  his  own  weakness  or  self-delusions, 
any  more  than  by  any  other  men's  arts;  nor  even 
to  be  disheartened  by  the  most  complicated  difficul- 
ties, any  more  than  to  be  spoiled  on  the  giddy  heights 
of  fortune — such  was  this  great  man — whether  we 
regard  him  sustaining  the  whole  weight  of  cam- 
paigns all  but  desperate,  or  gloriously  terminating 
a  just  warfare  by  his  resources  and  his  courage — 
presiding  over  the  jarring  elements  of  his  political 
council,  alike  deaf  to  the  storms  of  all  extremes — 
or  directing  the  formation  of  a  new  government  for 
a  great  people,  the  first  time  that  so  vast  an  experi- 
ment had  ever  been  tried  by  man — or  finally  re- 
tiring from  the  supreme  power  to  which  his  virtue 
had  raised  him  over  the  nation  he  had  created,  and 
whose  destinies  he  had  guided  as  long  as  his  aid 
was  required — retiring  with  the  veneration  of  all 
parties,  of  all  nations,  of  all  mankind,  in  order  that 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON.  23 

the  rights  of  men  might  be  conserved,  and  that  his 
example  never  might  be  appealed  to  by  vulgar 
tyrants.  This  is  the  consummate  glory  of  the  great 
American;  a  triumphant  warrior  where  the  most 
sanguine  had  a  right  to  despair;  a  successful  ruler 
in  all  the  difficulties  of  a  course  wholly  untried ;  but 
a  warrior  whose  sword  only  left  its  sheath  when  the 
first  law  of  our  nature  commanded  it  to  be  drawn; 
and  a  ruler  who,  having  tasted  of  supreme  power, 
gently  and  unostentatiously  desired  that  the  cup 
might  pass  from  him,  nor  would  suffer  more  to  wet 
wet  his  lips  than  the  most  solemn  and  sacred  duty 
to  his  country  and  his  God  required ! 

To  his  latest  breath  did  this  great  patriot  maintain 
the  noble  character  of  a  captain,  the  patron  of  peace, 
and  a  statesman,  the  friend  of  justice.  Dying,  he 
bequeathed  to  his  heirs  the  sword  which  he  had 
worn  in  the  war  for  liberty,  charging  them  "  never 
to  take  it  from  the  scabbard  but  in  self-defence  or 
in  defence  of  their  country  and  her  freedom;  and 
commanding  them  that  when  it  should  be  thus 
drawn,  they  should  never  sheath  it  nor  ever  give  it 
up,  but  prefer  falling  with  it  in  their  hands  to  the 
relinquishment  thereof" — words,  the  majesty  and 
simple  eloquence  of  which  are  not  surpassed  in  the 
oratory  of  Athens  or  Rome.  It  will  be  the  duty  of 
the  historian  and  the  sage  in  all  ages  to  omit  no 
occasion  of  commemorating  this  illustrious  man; 
and  until  time  shall  be  no  more,  will  a  test  of  the 
progress  which  our  race  has  made  in  wisdom  and 
in  virtue  be  derived  from  the  veneration  paid  to  the 
immortal  name  of  Washington. 


24  GEORGE    WASHINGTON. 


NOTES. 

Weight  of  officers  of  the  revolutionary  army,  Aug.  19,  1783 — weighed 

at  the  scales  at  West  Point: 

lbs. 

Gen.  Washington, 209 

"     Lincoln, 224 

"     Knox,* 280 

"    Huntington   182 

"     Greaton, 166 

Col.  Swift, 219 

"     Michael  Jackson, 252 

"     Harry  Jackson, 238 

Lieut.  Col.  Huntington, 212 

Cobb, 182 

"         Humphrey, 221 

Average  214  lbs. — taken  from  a  memorandum  found  in  the  late  Gen. 
Swift's  pocket  book. 


The  following  are  the  comparative  losses  of  the  battles  of  the  revolu- 
tion, arranged  according  to  priority: 

British  loss.    American  loss. 

Lexington,  April  19, 1775, 272  84 

Bunker  Hill,  June  17,  "     1,054  453 

Flatbush,  August  27, 1776, 400  200 

White  Plains,  "    29,     "     400  400 

Trenton,  Dec.  26,         "     1,000  9 

Princeton,  Jan.  3,  1777, 400  100 

Hubbardstown,  August  7,  1777, 180  800 

Bennington,             "     16,     "     800  100 

Brandywine,  Sept.  11,           "     500  1,200 

Stillwater,         "      17,           "     600  350 

Germantown,  Oct.    4,           "     600  1,200 

Saratoga,  "17,  "     5,722  sur. 

Red  Hook,          "22,           "     500  32 

Monmouth,  June  25,  1778, 400  139 

Rhode  Island,  Aug.  27,  "      260  211 

Briar  Creek,  March  30,  1779, 13  400 

Stonv  Point,  July  15,        "       600  100 

Camden,  August  16,  1780, 375  610 

King's  Mountain,  Oct.  1,  "     950  96 

Cowpens,  January  17,     "     800  72 

Guilford  C.  H.,  March  17, 1781, 523  400 

Hobkirk's  Hill,  April  25,       "     400  400 

Eutaw  Springs,  September,  "     1,000  550 

Yorktown,  October  19,  "     7,072  sur. 

Total, 24,853  9,698 

*  Died  in  consequence  of  swallowing  a  small  chicken  bone. 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON.  25 

The  following  extract  of  a  letter  from  a  traveller  in  Germany,  to  the 
New  York  Observer,  shows  that  the  errors  respecting  our  great  men  are 
often  ludicrous: 

"  The  oracle  of  a  coffee  house  in  Bacharach,  who  had  served  under 
Napoleon  from  Moscow  to  Madrid,  expatiated  somewhat  in  the  following 
style.  "The  Americans  were  enslaved;  Lafayette,  whom  I  have  myself 
seen,  set  them  free.  He  was  chosen  their  king,  but  bade  them  be  a  re- 
public." I  enquired  if  he  ever  heard  of  Washington,  and  was  answered 
in  the  negative  by  him  and  all  his  table  companions.  "  But,"  continued 
he,  "  give  me  an  hundred  thousand  Rhine  soldiers,  and  in  six  weeks  I 
will  subdue  all  America.  Indeed  the  Germans  are  already  predominant 
there,  since  one  of  the  latest  presidents,  Van  Buren,  was  born  in  Ger- 
many." 

Such  views  of  America,  as  the  foregoing,  are  all  that  could  be  expected 
by  one  who  considers  the  sources  from  which  they  are  derived.  Few 
American  travelers,  and  almost  as  few  American  books,  have  made 
their  way  through  Germany." 


The  following  interesting  revolutionary  relic,  being  a  sermon,  preached 
on  the  eve  of  the  Battle  of  Brandy  wine,  Sept.  10,  1777,  was  furnished  by 
A.  H.  Schcefmyer,  Esq.  He  says :  "  Not  long  ago,  searching  into  the  papers 
of  my  grandfather,  Major  John  Jacob  Schcefmyer,  who  was  out  in  the 
days  of  the  revolution,  I  found  the  following  discourse,  delivered  on  the 
eve  of  the  Battle  of  Brandy  wine,  by  the  Rev.  Joab  Trout,  to  a  large  por- 
tion of  the  American  soldiers,  in  presence  of  Gen.  Washington  and  Gen. 
Wayne,  and  other  officers  of  the  army. 

REVOLUTIONARY  SERMON. 

"  They  that  take  the  sicord,  shall  perish  by  the  sword" 

Soldiers  and  Countrymen: 

We  have  met  this  evening,  perhaps  for  the  last  time.  We  have  shared 
the  toil  of  the  march,  the  peril  of  the  fight,  and  the  dismay  of  the  retreat 
alike ;  we  have  endured  the  cold  and  hunger,  the  contumely  of  the  in- 
fernal foe,  and  the  courage  of  the  foreign  oppressor.  We  have  sat,  night 
after  night,  beside  the  camp  fire;  we  have  together  heard  the  roll  of  the 
reveille,  which  called  us  to  duty,  or  the  beat  of  the  tatoo,  which  gave  the 
signal  for  the  hardy  sleep  of  the  soldier,  with  the  earth  for  his  bed,  and 
his  knapsack  for  his  pillow. 

And  now,  soldiers  and  brethren,  we  have  met  in  the  peaceful  valley 
on  the  eve  of  battle,  while  the  sunlight  is  dying  away  beyond  yonder 
heights,  the  sunlight  that,  to-morrow  morn,  will  glimmer  on  scenes  of 
blood.  We  have  met  amid  the  whitening  tents  of  our  encampment;  in 
time  of  terror  and  of  gloom,  have  we  gathered  together  —  God  grant  it 
may  not  be  the  last  time. 

It  is  a  solemn  moment.  Brethren,  does  not  the  solemn  voice  of  nature 
seem  to  echo  the  sympathies  of  the  hour?  The  flag  of  our  country 
droops  heavily  from  yonder  staff,  the  breeze  has  died  away  along  the 


26  GEORGE   WASHINGTON. 

green  plain  of  Chadd's  Ford— the  plain  that  spreads  before  us,  glitter- 
ing in  the  sunlight — the  heights  of  the  Brandywine  arising  gloomy  and 
grand  beyond  the  waters  of  yonder  stream — all  nature  holds  a  pause  of 
solemn  silence,  on  the  eve  of  the  uproar  of  the  bloodshed  and  strife  of 
to-morrow. 

"  They  that  take  the  sword,  shall  perish  by  the  sword.*' 

And  have  they  not  taken  the  sword? 

Let  the  desolated  plain,  the  blood-sodden  valley,  the  burned  farm- 
house, blackening  in  the  sun,  the  sacked  village,  and  the  ravaged  town, 
answer — let  the  whitening  bones  of  the  butchered  farmer,  strewn  along 
the  iields  of  his  homestead,  answer — let  the  starving  mother,  with  her 
babe  clinging  to  the  withered  breast  that  can  afford  no  sustenance,  let 
her  answer,  with  the  death-rattle  mingling  with  the  murmuring  tones 
that  mark  the  last  struggle  of  life — let  the  dying  mother  and  her  babe 
answer. 

It  was  but  a  day  past,  and  our  land  slept  in  the  quiet  of  peace.  War 
was  not  here — wrong  was  not  here.  Fraud  and  woe,  and  misery  and 
want,  dwelt  not  among  us.  From  the  eternal  solitude  of  the  green 
woods,  arose  the  blue  sky  of  the  settler's  cabin,  and  golden  fields  of  corn 
looked  from  amid  the  waste  of  the  wilderness,  and  the  glad  music  of 
human  voices  awoke  the  silence  of  the  forest. 

Now,  God  of  mercy,  behold  the  change.  Under  the  shadow  of  a  pre- 
text, under  the  sanctity  of  the  name  of  God,  invoking  the  Redeemer  to 
their  aid,  does  these  foreign  hirelings  slay  our  people !  They  destroy  our 
towns,  they  darken  our  plains,  and  now  they  encompass  our  posts  on 
the  plain  of  Chadd's  Ford. 

"  They  that  take  the  sword,  shall  perish  by  the  sword." 

Brethren,  think  me  not  unworthy  of  belief  when  I  tell  you  the  doom 
of  the  British  is  near!  Think  me  not  vain  when  I  tell  you  that  beyond 
the  cloud  that  now  enshrouds  us,  I  see  gathering,  thick  and  fast,  the 
darker  storm,  and  a  blacker  storm  of  a  Divine  indignation! 

They  may  conquer  us  to-morrow.  Might  and  wrong  may  prevail,  and 
we  may  be  driven  from  this  field — but  the  hour  of  God's  own  vengeance 
will  come. 

Aye,  if  in  the  vast  solitude  of  eternal  space,  if  in  the  heart  of  the  bound- 
less universe,  there  throbs  the  being  of  an  awful  God,  quick  to  avenge, 
and  sure  to  punish  guilt,  then  will  the  man  George,  of  Brunswick,  called 
king,  feel  in  his  brain  and  his  heart,  the  vengeance  of  the  eternal  Jeho- 
vah! A  blight  will  be  upon  bis  life — a  withered  brain,  and  accursed 
intellect;  a  blight  will  be  upon  his  children  and  on  his  people.  Great 
God  how  dread  the  punishment! 

A  crowded  populace  peopling  the  dense  towns  where  the  man  of 
money  thrives,  while  the  laborer  starves;  want  a  striding  among  the 
people  in  all  its  forms  of  terror;  and  ignorant  and  God-defying  priest- 
hood chuckling  over  the  miseries  of  millions;  a  proud  and  merciless  no- 
bility, adding  wrong  to  wrong,  and  heaping  insult  upon  robbery  and 
fraud;  royalty  corrupt  to  the  very  heart,  and  aristocracy  rotten  to  the 
very  core;  crime  and  want  linked  hand  in  hand,  and  tempting  men  to 
deeds  of  wo  and  death:  these  are  a  part  of  the  doom  and  the  retribution 
that  came  upon  the  English  throne  and  the  English  people ! 

Soldiers,  1  look  around  upon  your  familiar  laces  with  a  strange  inte- 
rest! To-morrow  morning  we  will  all  go  forth  to  the  battle — for  need  I 
tell  you,  that  your  unworthy  minister  will  march  with  you,  invoking 


GEORGE   WASHINGTON.  27 

God's  aid  in  the  fight — we  will  march  forth  to  the  battle !  Need  I  exhort 
you  to  fight  the  good  fight,  to  fight  ibr  your  homesteads,  for  your  wives 
and  children? 

My  friends,  I  might  urge  you  to  fight  by  the  galling  memories  of 
British  wrong.  Walton — I  might  tell  you  of  your  butchered  father,  in 
the  silence  of  the  night  on  the  plains  of  Trenton;  I  might  ring  his  death 
shriek  into  your  ears.  Shelmire — I  might  tell  you  of  a  butchered  mother, 
and  a  sister  outraged ;  the  lonely  farmhouse,  the  night  assault,  the  roof 
in  flames,  the  shout  of  the  troopers  as  they  despatched  their  victims,  the 
cries  for  mercy,  the  pleadings  of  innocence  for  pity.  I  might  paint  this 
all  again,  in  vivid  colors  of  the  terrible  reality  if  I  thought  your  courage 
needed  such  wild  excitement. 

But  I  know  you  are  strong  in  the  might  of  the  Lord.  You  will  march 
forth  to  battle  on  the'  morrow  with  light  hearts  and  determined  spirits, 
though  the  solemn  duty — the  duty  of  avenging  the  dead — may  rest  heavy 
on  your  souls. 

And  in  the  hour  of  battle,  when  all  around  is  darkness  lit  by  the  lurid 
cannon  glare,  and  piercing  musket  flash,  when  the  wounded  strew  the 
ground,  and  the  dead  litter  your  path,  then  remember  soldiers  that  God 
is  with  you.  The  eternal  God  fights  for  you — he  rides  on  the  battle 
cloud,  he  sweeps  onward  with  the  march  or  the  hurricane  charge — God, 
the  awful  and  the  infinite,  fights  for  you  and  will  triumph. 

"  They  that  take  the  sword,  shall  perish  by  the  sword." 

You  have  taken  the  sword,  but  not  in  the  spirit  of  wrong  and  ravage. 
You  have  taken  the  sword  for  your  homes,  for  your  wives,  for  your  little 
ones.  You  have  taken  the  sword  for  truth,  for  justice  and  right,  and  to 
you  the  promise  is — be  of  good  cheer,  for  your  foes  have  taken  the 

sword  in  defiance  of  all  that  man  holds  dear,  in  blasphemy  of  God 

they  shall  perish  by  the  sword. 

And  now,  brethren  and  soldiers,  I  bid  you  all  fareAvell.     Many  of  us 

may  fall  in  the  battle  of  to-morrow.     God  rest  the  souls  of  the  fallen 

many  of  us  may  live  to  tell  the  story  of  the  fight  to-morrow,  and  in  the 
memory  of  all  who  ever  rest  and  linger  the  quiet  scene  of  the  autumnal 
night. 

Solemn  twilight  advances  over  the  valley;  the  woods  on  the  opposite 
heights  fling  their  long  shadows  over  the  green  of  the  meadows;  around 
us  are  the  tents  of  the  continental  host,  the  suppressed  bustle  of  the  camp, 
the  hurried  tramp  of  the  soldiers  to  and  fro  among  the  tents,  stillness 
and  awe  that  marks  the  eve  of  battle. 

When  we  meet  again,  may  the  shadow  of  twilight  be  flung  over  a 
peaceful  land.     God  in  heaven  grant  it. 

PRAYER   FOR    THE    REVOLUTION. 

Great  Father,  we  bow  before  thee;  we  invoke  thy  blessings ;  we  depre- 
cate thy  wrath ;  we  return  thee  thanks  for  the  past ;  we  ask  thy  aid  for 
the  future.  For  we  are  in  times  of  trouble,  oh  Lord,  and  sore  beset  by 
foes,  merciless  and  unpitying.  The  sword  gleams  over  our  land,  and 
the  dust  of  the  soil  is  dampened  with  the  blood  of  our  neighbors  and 
friends. 

Oh!  God  of  mercy,  we  pray  thy  blessing  on  the  American  arms. 
Make  the  man  of  our  hearts  strong  in  thy  wisdom ;  bless,  we  beseech 
thee,  with  renewed  life  and  strength,  our  hope,  and  thy  instrument  even 
George  Washington.  Shower  thy  counsels  on  the  honorable,  the  con- 
tinental congress ;  visit  the  tents  of  our  host,  comfort  the  soldier  in  his 


28  MARTHA  WASHINGTON. 

wounds  and  afflictions,  nerve  him  for  the  fight,  prepare  him  for  the  hour 
of  death. 

And  in  the  hour  of  defeat,  God  of  Hosts,  do  thou  he  our  stay,  and  in 
the  hour  of  triumph  he  thou  our  guide. 

Teach  us  to  he  merciful.  Though  the  memory  of  galling  wrongs  be 
at  our  hearts,  knocking  for  admittance,  that  they  may  fill  us  with  tlie 
desire  of  revenge,  yet  let  us,  oh  Lord,  spare  the  vanquished  though 
they  never  spared  us,  in  the  hour  of  butchery,  and  bloodshed.  And  in 
the  hour  of  death,  do  thou  guide  us  to  the  abode  prepared  for  the  blest; 
so  shall  we  return  thanks  unto  thee,  through  Christ  our  Redeemer — 
God  prosper  the  cause.     Amen. 


MARTHA  WASHINGTON. 

It  is  not  much  the  world  can  give, 

With  all  its  subtle  art. 
And  gold  and  gems  are  not  the  things 

To  satisfy  the  heart : 
But  oh,  if  those  who  cluster  round 

The  altar  and  the  hearth, 
Have  gentle  words  and  loving  smiles, 

How  beautiful  is  earth. 

HE  maiden  name  of  the  wife  of  the  illus- 
trious Washington  was  Martha  Dandridge. 
She  was  born  in  New  Kent  Court,  state  of 
.  .rginia,  May,  1732.  Of  her  early  life,  it  is 
V®  recorded  that  "  she  excelled  in  personal  charms, 
^  with  pleasing  manners,  and  a  general  amia- 
bility of  demeanor-"  At  the  age  of  seventeen  she 
married  Colonel  Daniel  P.  Custis  of  Arlington,  a 
king's  counsellor.  The  fruits  of  this  marriage  were 
a  girl  who  died  in  infancy,  and  David,  Martha  and 
John.  David  was  a  child  of  much  promise,  but 
died  an  untimely  death,  which  it  is  said  hastened 
his  father  to  the  grave.  Martha  arrived  at  woman- 
hood, and  died  at  Mount  Vernon  in  1770.  John, 
the  father  of  George  W.  P.  Custis,  Esq.,  of  Arling- 


MARTHA   WASHINGTON.  29 

ton,  near  Washington  city,  and  from  whose  writings 
this  sketch  is  condensed,  died  at  the  seige  of  York- 
town,  in  1781,  aged  twenty-seven. 

On  the  death  of  her  husband,  Mrs.  Curtis  was  left 
a  very  young  and  wealthy  widow,  having  in  addition 
to  the  large  landed  estates  the  colonel  had  left, 
three  thousand  pounds  sterling  in  money,  besides 
fifteen  thousand  pounds  left  to  Martha,  his  only 
daughter. 

It  was  in  1750  that  Washington,  then  a  colonel, 
was  introduced  to  the  charming  widow;  and  being 
of  an  age  when  impressions  are  strongest,  tradition 
says  they  were  mutually  pleased  with  each  other. 
And  Washington  being  first  in  affairs  of  the  heart, 
as  well  as  in  war,  achieved  a  speedy  marriage.  The 
precise  date  of  the  marriage  has  not  been  ascer- 
tained, but  it  is  believed  it  took  place  in  1759. 

When  her  husband  was  commander-in-chief,  lady 
Washington  accompanied  him  to  the  lines  before 
Boston,  and  witnessed  its  seige  and  evacuation. 
She  then  returned  to  Virginia,  the  subsequent  cam- 
paign being  of  too  momentous  a  character  to  allow 
of  her  accompanying  the  army.  At  the  close  of 
each  campaign  an  aidecamp  repaired  to  Mount  Ver- 
non to  escort  the  lady  to  the  head  quarters.  The 
arrival  of  Lady  Washington  at  camp  was  an  event 
much  anticipated,  and  was  the  signal  for  the  ladies 
of  the  several  officers  to  repair  to  the  bosoms  of  their 
lords.  The  arrival  of  the  aidecamp,  escorting  the 
plain  chariot,  with  the  neat  postillions  in  their  scar- 
let and  white  liveries,  was  deemed  an  epoch  in  the 
army,  and  served  to  diffuse  a  cheering  influence 
amid  the  gloom  which  hung  over  our  destinies  at 
Valley  Forge,  Morristown  and  West  Point.  She 
always  remained  at  head  quarters  till  the  opening  of 
the  campaign,  and  it  was  her  fortune  to  hear  the 
first  and  last  cannon  of  all  the  campaigns  of  the 
revolutionary  war. 
Mrs.   Washington    was  an   uncommonly   early 


30  MARTHA   WASHINGTON. 

riser,  leaving  her  pillow  at  clay  dawn,  at  all  seasons 
of  the  year.  After  breakfast  she  would  daily  retire 
to  her  chamber,  where  she  spent  an  hour  in  prayer 
and  reading  the  holy  scriptures,  a  practice  that  she 
never  omitted  during  the  half  century  of  her  varied 
life. 

A  little  more  than  two  years  from  the  death  of 
him  who  was  called  to  his  great  reward  in  higher 
and  better  worlds,  Mrs.  Washington  became  alarm- 
ingly ill  from  an  attack  of  bilious  fever.  Perfectly 
aware  that  her  end  was  fast  approaching,  she  as- 
sembled her  grandchildren  at  her  bedside,  and  dis- 
coursed to  them  on  their  respective  duties  through 
life.  She  spoke  of  the  happy  influences  of  religion 
on  the  affairs  of  this  world,  of  the  consolations  they 
had  afforded  her  in  many  and  trying  afflictions,  and 
of  the  hopes  they  held  out  of  a  blessed  immortality. 
Then,  surrounded  by  her  weeping  relatives,  friends 
and  domestics,  in  the  seventy-first  year  of  her  age, 
she  resigned  her  life  into  the  hands  of  Him  who 
gave  it.  "  She  descended  to  the  grave  cheered  by 
the  prospect  of  a  blessed  immortality,  and  mourned 
by  the  millions  of  a  mighty  empire." 

Golden  hang  the  branches  above  that  sacred  tomb, 
O'er  the  marble  glances  the  rose's  tint  of  bloom, 
Round  the  silent  sepulchre  the  scarlet  tendrils  twine, 
Through  the  rainbow  vistas  the  glassy  waters  shine. 

In  person  Mrs.  Washington  was  well-formed, 
and  somewhat  below  the  medium  size,  and  when 
in  the  bloom  of  life  was  eminently  handsome.  In 
her  dress,  though  plain,  she  was  so  scrupulously 
neat,  that  the  ladies  often  wondered  how  she 
could  wear  a  gown  for  a  week,  go  through  the 
kitchen  and  larder,  and  all  the  routine  of  domestic 
management,  and  yet  the  gown  retain  its  snow-like 
whiteness,  unsullied  by  even  a  speck. 


MARY   WASHINGTON.  31 


MARY  WASHINGTON. 

When  those  whom  we  prized  have  departed  forever, 

Yet  perfume  is  shed  o'er  the  cypress  we  twine ; 
Yet  fond  Recollection  refuses  to  sever, 

And  turns  to  the  past  like  a  saint  to  the  shrine. 
Praise  carved  on  the  marble  is  often  deceiving, 

The  gaze  of  the  stranger  is  all  it  may  claim ; 
But  the  strongest  of  love  and  the  purest  of  grieving, 

And  heard  when  lips  dwell  on  the  missing  one's  name, 
Saying,  "  Don't  you  remember  ?" 

,N  the  velvet  bank  of  a  rivulet  sat  a  rosy 
II  child.  Her  lap  was  filled  with  flowers,  and 
a  garland  of  rose-buds  was  twined  around 
r  neck.  Her  face  was  as  radiant  as  the  sun- 
shine that  fell  upon  it;  and  her  voice  was  as 
clear  as  that  of  the  bird  which  warbled  at  her 
side.  The  little  stream  went  singing-  on,  and  with 
every  gush  of  its  music  the  child  lifted  the  flowers 
in  its  dimpled  hand,  and,  with  a  merry  laugh,  threiv 
them  upon  its  surface.  In  her  glee  she  forgot  that 
her  treasures  were  growing  less;  and  with  the  swift 
motion  of  childhood,  she  flung  them  upon  the  spark- 
ling tide,  until  every  bud  and  blossom  had  disap- 
peared. Then,  seeing  her  loss,  she  sprang  upon  her 
feet,  and  bursting  into  tears,  called  aloud  to  the 
stream,  "  Bring  back  my  flowers !"  But  the  stream 
danced  along  regardless  of  her  tears:  and  as  it  bore 
the  blooming  burden  away,  her  words  came  back 
in  a  taunting  echo  along  its  reedy  margin.  And, 
long  after,  amid  the  wailing  of  the  breeze,  and  the 
fitful  bursts  of  childish  grief,  was  heard  the  fruitless 
cry,  "Bring  back  my  flowers!"  Merry  maiden! 
who  art  idly  wasting  the  precious  moments  so  boun- 
tifully bestowed  upon  thee,  see  in  the  thoughtless, 
impulsive  child,  an  emblem  of  thyself.  With  the 
mother  of  the  immortal  Washington  look  back 
upon  each  moment  as  a  perfumed  flower.  Let  its 
fragrance  be  dispensed  in  blessings  on  all  around 


32  MARY   WASHINGTON. 

thee  and  ascend  as  sweet  incense  to  its  beneficent 
giver.  Else,  when  thou  hast  carelessly  flung  them 
from  thee,  and  seest  them  receding  on  the  swift 
waters  of  time,  thou  wilt  cry,  in  tones  more  sorrow- 
ful than  those  of  the  child,  "  Bring  back  my  flow- 
ers!" And  the  only  answer  will  be  an  echo  from 
the  shadowy  past,  "  Bring  back  my  flowers:'* 

It  has  been  beautifully  observed  that  Home  is  the 
true  theatre  of  woman.  This  is  her  kingdom  ;  and 
here  she  may  erect  her  throne,  and  sway  her  sceptre. 
For  such  a  dominion  Providence  designed  her,  and 
for  this  the  Creator  has  richly  qualified  her.  And 
what  a  sphere  of  action  is  this !  How  grand  in  it- 
self, and  how  imposing  in  view  of  its  tendencies 
and  results!  Home!  What  associations  gather 
around  that  word !  With  what  a  power  it  thrills 
the  soul!  What  an  impress  it  stamps  on  the  intel- 
lectual and  moral  man !  It  is  unbounded  in  its 
influence  on  the  social  and  civil  institutions  of  man- 
kind. It  takes  hold  of  the  deepest  consequences, 
and  leads  to  the  sublimest  results.  Who  rules  here, 
presides  over  the  fountains  of  thought  and  intelli- 
gence, and  touches  the  springs  which  give  motion 
to  the  world.  Who  controls  the  homes  of  mankind, 
fixes  their  destiny.  Here  woman  wields  a  sway 
mightier  than  the  sceptre  of  earth's  lordliest  despot. 
She  implants  the  germ  of  those  principles  which 
are  to  give  character  to  society,  and  to  fix  its  insti- 
tutions. For  the  influences  which  are  to  perpetuate 
or  to  destroy  our  national  blessings,  we  should  look, 
not  to  virtue  or  corruption  in  high  places,  but  to  the 
elements  which  are  developed  in  our  homes.  Our 
security  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  efficiency  of  our 
navies,  nor  in  the  impregnableness  of  our  fortresses, 
nor  in  the  valor  and  discipline  of  our  armies:  the  sal- 
vation of  this  land  is  to  be  the  result  of  the  principles 
inculcated  and  fixed  in  its  homes.  Every  home  is 
a  fortress ;  and  until  these  are  subjected  to  ignorance, 

*  Lowell  Offering. 


MARY   WASHINGTON.  33 

and  lawlessness,  and  passion,  there  is  safety;  but 
when  these  seeds  of  anarchy  and  ruin  are  allowed 
to  grow  here,  all  is  lost.  Of  all  these  interests — 
the  interests  which  cluster  around  the  home — wo- 
man is  the  appropriate  guardian,  and  the  only  effi- 
cient conservator. 

Mary,  the  mother  of  the  patriot,  soldier  and  states- 
man, George  Washington,  was  descended  from  the 
family  of  Ball,  English  colonists,  who  settled  on  the 
banks  of  the  Potomac. 

Bred  up  in  the  domestic  and  independent  habits 
which  graced  the  Virginia  ladies  in  those  days,  she 
became  well  fitted  to  perform  the  duties  which  were 
destined  to  devolve  upon  her.  By  the  death  of  her 
husband,  the  cares  of  a  young  family  became  hers, 
at  a  period  when  the  aid  and  control  of  the  stronger 
sex  are  most  needed.  Thus  was  it  left  for  this 
eminent  woman,  by  an  education  and  discipline  the 
most  peculiar  and  imposing,  to  instil  into  the  mind 
of  her  son,  those  great  and  essential  qualities,  which 
formed  a  hero  destined  to  be  the  ornament  of  the 
age  in  which  he  nourished,  and  the  admiration  of 
ages  yet  to  come. 

At  the  time  of  his  father's  death,  George  Wash- 
ington was  but  twelve  years  of  age.  Of  him  he 
has  been  heard  to  say  that  he  knew  but  little ;  it 
was  to  his  mother's  fostering  care,  that  he  ascribed 
the  origin  of  his  fortune  and  his  fame.* 

In  the  home  of  Mrs.  Washington  the  levity  and 
indulgence  common  to  youth  were  tempered  by  a 
well-regulated  restraint,  which,  while  it  neither 
suppressed  nor  condemned  any  rational  enjoyment 
usual  in  the  spring-time  of  life,  prescribed  those 
enjoyments  within  the  bounds  of  moderation  and 
propriety.  Thus  was  her  son  taught  the  duty  of 
obedience,  which  prepared  him  to  command.  Nor 
did  he  ever  fail  in  that  duty ;  but  to  the  latest  mo- 

*  Ladies  Garland. 


34  MARY    WASHINGTON. 

ments  of  his  venerable  parent,  yielded  to  her  with 
the  most  dutiful  and  implicit  obedience,  and  felt  for 
her  person  and  character  the  highest  respect  and 
most  enthusiastic  attachment. 

The  late  Lawrence  Washington,  Esq.,  of  Cho- 
tank,  one  of  the  associates  of  the  juvenile  years  of 
the  chief,  and  remembered  by  him  in  his  will,  thus 
describes  the  home  of  his  mother:  "I  was  often 
there  with  George,  his  playmate,  schoolmate  and 
young  man's  companion.  Of  the  mother  I  was  ten 
times  more  afraid  than  I  ever  was  of  my  own  pa- 
rents; she  awed  me  in  the  midst  of  her  kindness, 
for  she  was  indeed  truly  kind.  And  even  now, 
when  time  has  whitened  my  locks,  and  I  am  the 
grand-parent  of  a  second  generation,  I  could  not 
behold  that  majestic  woman  without  feelings  which 
it  is  impossible  to  describe." 

Upon  Washington's  appointment  to  the  command 
of  the  American  armies,  he  removed  his  mother 
from  her  country  residence  to  the  village  of  Frede- 
ricksburg, a  situation  more  remote  from  danger  and 
nearer  to  her  friends  and  relatives.  There  she  re- 
mained during  the  period  of  the  revolution,  directly 
in  the  way  of  the  news  as  it  proceeded  from  north 
to  south.  Often  would  one  courier  bring  intelli- 
gence of  success  to  our  armies, — another,  "  swiftly 
coursing  at  his  heels,"  the  saddening  reverse  of 
disaster  and  defeat. 

During  the  war,  and  indeed  during  the  whole 
period  of  her  useful  life  up  to  the  advanced  age  of 
eighty-two,  Mrs.  Washington  set  a  most  valuable 
example  in  the  management  of  her  domestic  con- 
cerns. In  her  household  arrangements  she  was 
never  actuated  by  that  ambition  for  show  which 
pervades  weaker  minds;  and  the  peculiar  plainness 
and  dignity  of  her  manners  became  in  no  wise 
altered,  when  the  sun  of  glory  arose  upon  her 
house.  Her  industry  and  the  well-regulated  econo- 
my of  all  her  concerns,  enabled   her  to  dispense 


MARY   WASHINGTON.  35 

considerable  charities  to  the  poor,  although  her 
own  circumstances  were  far  from  being  affluent. 
There,  in  a  humble  dwelling,  lived  this  mother  of 
the  first  of  men,  preserving  unchanged  her  peculiar 
nobleness  and  independence  of  character. 

She  was  continually  visited  and  solaced  by  her 
children,  and  numerous  grand-children,  particularly 
by  her  daughter  Mrs.  Lewis.  To  the  repeated  and 
earnest  solicitations  of  this  lady,  that  she  would 
remove  to  her  home,  and  pass  the  remainder  of  her 
days;  to  the  pressing  entreaties  of  her  son  that  she 
would  make  Mount  Vernon  the  home  of  her  age, 
the  matron  replied,  "  I  thank  you  for  your  affection- 
ate and  dutiful  offers,  but  my  wants  are  few  in  this 
world,  and  I  feel  perfectly  competent  to  take  care 
of  myself." 

One  weakness  alone  attached  to  this  lofty-minded 
and  intrepid  woman,  and  that  proceeded  from  a 
very  affecting  cause.  She  was  afraid  of  lightning. 
In  early  life  she  had  a  female  friend  killed  by  her 
side,  while  sitting  at  table ;  the  knife  and  fork,  in 
the  hands  of  the  unfortunate  girl,  were  melted  by 
the  electric  fluid.  The  matron  never  recovered 
from  the  fright  and  shock  occasioned  by  this  dis- 
tressing accident.  On  the  approach  of  a  thunder 
cloud  she  would  retire  to  her  chamber,  and  not  leave 
it  again  till  the  storm  had  passed  away. 

She  was  always  pious,  but  in  her  latter  days  her 
devotions  were  performed  in  private.  She  was  in 
the  habit  of  repairing  every  day  to  a  secluded  spot, 
formed  by  rocks  and  trees  near  her  dwelling,  where, 
abstracted  from  the  world  and  worldly  things,  she 
communed  with  her  Creator  in  humiliation  and 
prayer. 

At  length,  after  an  absence  of  nearly  seven  years, 
on  the  return  of  the  combined  armies  from  York- 
town,  it  was  permitted  to  the  mother  again  to  see 
and  embrace  her  illustrious  son.  And  now  mark 
the  force  of  early  education  and  habits.     No  pa- 


36  MARY    WASHINGTON. 

geantry  of  war  proclaimed  his  coming,  no  trumpets 
sounded,  no  banners  waved.  Alone  and  on  foot,  the 
marshal  of  France,  the  general  in  chief  of  the  com- 
bined armies  of  France  and  America,  the  deliverer 
of  his  country,  the  hero  of  the  age,  repaired  to  pay 
his  humble  duty  to  her  whom  he  venerated  as  the 
author  of  his  being,  the  founder  of  his  fortune  and 
his  fame. 

The  lady  was  alone,  her  aged  hands  employed  in 
the  work  of  domestic  industry,  when  the  good  news 
was  announced,  and  it  was  further  told  that  the  vic- 
tor chief  was  in  waiting  at  the  threshhold.  She  wel- 
comed him  with  a  warm  embrace,  and  by  the  well- 
remembered  and  endearing  name  of  his  childhood; 
inquiring  as  to  his  health,  she  remarked  the  lines, 
which  mighty  cares  and  many  trials  had  made  on 
his  manly  countenance ;  spoke  much  of  old  times 
and  old  friends,  but  of  his  glory — not  one  ivord  ! 

Meantime,  in  the  village  of  Fredericksburg,  all 
was  joy  and  revelry ;  the  town  was  crowded  with 
the  officers  of  the  French  and  American  armies,  and 
with  gentlemen  from  all  the  country  around,  who 
hastened  to  welcome  the  conquerors  of  Cornwallis. 
The  citizens  made  arrangements  for  a  splendid  ball, 
to  which  the  mother  of  Washington  was  specially 
invited. 

The  foreign  officers  were  anxious  to  see  the 
mother  of  their  hero.  They  had  heard  indistinct 
rumors  respecting  her  remarkable  life  and  character ; 
but  forming  their  judgments  from  European  exam- 
ples, they  prepared  to  expect  in  the  mother  that 
glare  and  show,  which  would  have  been  attached 
to  the  parents  of  the  great  in  the  old  world.  How 
were  they  surprised  when  the  matron,  leaning  on 
the  arm  of  her  son,  entered  the  room !  She  was 
arrayed  in  the  very  plain,  but  becoming  garb  worn 
by  the  Virginia  lady  of  the  olden  time.  Her  address, 
always  dignified  and  imposing,  was  courteous 
though  reserved.     She  received  the  complimentary 


MARY   WASHINGTON.  37 

attentions  which  were  profusely  paid  her  without 
evincing  the  slightest  elevation,  and  at  an  early- 
hour,  wishing  the  company  much  enjoyment  of  their 
pleasure,  retired. 

The  foreign  officers  were  amazed  to  behold  one 
whom  so  many  causes  contributed  to  elevate,  pre- 
serving the  even  tenor  of  her  life,  while  such  a  blaze 
of  glory  shone  upon  her  name  and  offspring.  The 
European  world  furnished  no  examples  of  such 
magnanimity.  Names  of  ancient  lore  were  heard 
to  escape  from  their  lips,  and  they  observed,  that  if 
such  were  the  matrons  of  America,  it  was  not  won- 
derful that  the  sons  were  illustrious. 

The  Marquis  de  Lafayette,  previous  to  his  depart- 
ure for  Europe,  repaired  to  Fredericksburg  to  pay 
her  his  parting  respects,  and  to  ask  her  blessing.  As 
he  approached  the  house,  he  beheld  her  working  in 
the  garden,  clad  in  domestic-made  clothes,  and  her 
gray  head  covered  with  a  plain  straw  hat!  She 
saluted  him  kindly,  observing — "  Oh,  Marquis !  you 
see  an  old  woman — but  come,  I  can  make  you 
welcome  to  my  poor  dwelling  without  the  parade 
of  changing  my  dress." 

In  her  person,  Mrs.  Washington  was  of  the  mid- 
dle size  ;  her  features  pleasing,  yet  strongly  marked. 
In  her  latter  days  she  spoke  often  of  her  own  good 
boy,  of  the  merits  of  his  early  life,  of  his  love  and 
dutifulness  to  herself,  but  of  the  deliverer  of  his 
country,  of  the  chief  magistrate  of  the  great  repub- 
lic, she  never  spoke!  Call  you  this  insensibility? 
or  want  of  ambition?  Oh,  no!  her  ambition  had 
been  gratified  to  overflowing.  She  taught  him  to 
be  good ;  that  he  became  great  when  the  opportu- 
nity presented,  was  a  consequence,  not  a  cause. 

Thus  lived  and  died  that  distinguished  woman. 
Had  she  been  a  Roman  dame,  statues  would  have 
been  erected  to  her  memory  in  the  capital,  and  we 
should  have  read  in  classic  pages  the  story  of  her 
virtues. 


38  WILLTAM   AUGUSTINE   WASHINGTON. 

A  splendid  monument  has  recently  been  erected 
to  her  memory,  at  Fredericksburg,  where  her  ashes 
repose.  The  ceremony  of  laying  the  corner  stone 
was  solemn  and  affecting.  It  was  a  late,  but  just 
tribute  to  her,  who  gave  to  our  country  its  noblest 
son.  For  taste  and  effect  this  monument  is  the 
finest  specimen  of  art  in  the  United  States.  It  is 
forty-five  feet  from  the  base  to  the  summit,  mounted 
by  a  colossal  bust  of  George  Washington,  and  sur- 
mounted by  the  American  Eagle,  in  the  attitude  of 
dropping  a  civic  wreath  upon  the  head  of  the  hero. 
The  inscription  is  simple  and  affecting : 

MARY, 

THE  MOTHER  OF 

WASHINGTON. 

When  that  sacred  column  shall,  in  after  ages,  be 
visited  by  the  American  pilgrim,  let  him  recall  the 
virtues  of  her  who  sleeps  beneath. 


WILLIAM  AUGUSTINE  WASHINGTON. 

'E  was  a  distinguished  officer  of  the  revolu- 
tion, a  relative  of  George  Washington,  and 
a  native  of  Virginia.  He  was  one  of  the 
earliest  to  engage  in  the  struggle  for  emancipa- 
tion from  British  tyranny.  He  served  as  a 
captain  under  Mercer,  and  afterwards  fought  at 
the  battle  of  Long  Island.  He  also  distinguished 
himself  at  that  of  Trenton,  when  he  was  severely 
wounded.  His  bravery  was  rewarded  by  his  pro- 
motion to  the  rank  of  major  and  lieutenant-colonel. 
At  the  battle  of  Cowpens  he  commanded  the  caval- 
ry, and  contributed  much  to  the  victory.  As  a  token 
of  their  appreciation  of  his  services,  congress  pre- 
sented him  with  a  sword. 


WILLLIAM   AUGUSTINE   WASHINGTON.  39 

At  the  battle  of  Entaw  Springs  he  was  again 
wounded,  and  also  taken  prisoner.  This  terminated 
his  military  career.  He  was  confined  at  Charles- 
ton, S.  C,  until  the  cessation  of  hostilities. 

While  in  captivity,  and.  suffering  from  his  wound, 
he  became  enamored,  it  is  said,  at  the  first  interview, 
with  a  beautiful  Carolinian  maiden,  who  inflicted 
a  deeper  wound  upon  his  heart,  and  whom,  on  his 
liberation,  he  married. 

It  has  been  eloquently  said,  "that  there  is  no 
love  but  love  at  first  sight.  This  is  the  transcendent 
and  surpassing  offspring  of  sheer  and  unpolluted 
sympathy.  AH  other  is  the  illegitimate  result  of  ob- 
servation, of  reflection,  of  compromise,  of  compari- 
son, of  expediency.  The  passions  that  endure  flash 
like  the  lightning;  they  scorch  the  soul,  but  it  is 
warmed  for  ever.  Miserable  man,  whose  love  rises 
by  degrees  upon  the  frigid  morning  of  his  mind! 
And  certain  as  the  gradual  rise  of  such  affection  is 
its  gradual  decline  and  melancholy  set.  Then,  in 
the  chill  dim  twilight  of  his  soul,  he  execrates  cus- 
tom, because  he  has  madly  expected  that  feelings 
could  be  habitual  that  were  not  homogeneous,  and 
because  he  has  been  guided  by  the  observation  of 
sense,  and  not  by  the  inspiration  of  sympathy." 

"Amid  the  gloom  and  travail  of  existence  suddenly 
to  behold  a  beautiful  being,  and  as  instantaneously, 
to  feel  an  overwhelming  conviction  that  with  that 
fair  form  forever  our  destiny  must  be  entwined; 
that  there  is  no  more  joy  but  in  her  joy,  no  sorrow 
but  when  she  grieves;  that  in  her  sight  of  love,  in 
her  smile  of  fondness,  hereafter  is  all  bliss;  to  feel 
our  ambition  fade  away  like  a  shriveled  gourd  be- 
fore her  visions;  to  feel  fame  a  juggle,  and  posterity 
a  lie ;  and  to  be  prepared  at  once  for  this  great  ob- 
ject, to  forfeit  and  fling  away  all  former  hopes,  ties, 
schemes,  and  views.  This  is  a  lover,  and  this  is 
love." 


40  BUSHROD    WASHINGTON. 

"A  wif !  ah  Saint  Mary,  beiiedicte, 

How  might  a  man  have  any  adversitie, 

That  hatli  a  wif!  certes  I  cannot  say; 

The  blisse  the  which  that  is  betwix  them  twey, 

There  may  no  tongue  tell,  or  harte  think. 

"  O  blissful  ordre,  O  wedlock  precious, 
Thou  art  so  merry,  and  eke  so  virtuous, 
And  so  commended  and  approved  eke, 
That  every  man  that  holds  him  worth  a  leke, 
Upon  his  bare  knees  ought  all  his  lif 
Thanken  his  God  that  hath  sent  him  a  wif 
Or  elles  pray  to  God  him  for  to  send 
A  wif,  to  last  until  his  lives  end." 

Having  settled  in  South  Carolina,  Col.  Washing- 
ton served  in  the  legislature  of  that  state.  The 
great  talents  he  displayed  in  that  body,  induced  his 
friends  to  solicit  him  to  become  a  candidate  for  the 
office  of  governor;  but  his  modesty  would  not  per- 
mit him. 

Honored  by  all  who  knew  him,  he  entered  upon 
his  immortal  stage  of  existence  in  1810. 


BUSHROD  WASHINGTON, 

^$g^N  eminent  judge,  the  favorite  nephew  of 
%^%  General  Washington,  was  born  in  West- 

fK ^  moreland  county,  in  the  state  of  Virginia. 
&  Having  graduated  with  honor  at  William  and 
&;    Mary  College,  he  studied  law  in  the  office  of 
Mr.  Williams,  of  Philadelphia.     He  then  com- 
menced practice  with  great  success,  in  his  native 

place.  .    . 

In  1781  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Virginia 
house  of  delegates.  He  subsequently  removed  to 
Alexandria,  D.  C,  and  thence  to  Richmond,  where 
he  published  his  two  volumes  of  the  Decisions  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  Virginia.  In  1798  he  was  ap- 
pointed an  associate  justice  of  the  supreme  court 
of  the  United  States,  which  situation  he  held  until 
his  decease  in  1829. 


BUSHROD   WASHINGTON.  41 

Judge  Washington  was  a  man  of  "  sound  judg- 
ment, rigid  integrity,  and  unpretending  manners." 
He  possessed,  in  an  eminent  degree,  that  charity 
towards  erring  humanity,  so  happily  set  forth  in 
the  language  of  a  modern  writer:  "When  I  take 
the  history  of  one  poor  heart  that  has  sinned  and 
suffered,  and  represent  to  myself  the  struggles  and 
temptations  it  passed  through;  the  brief  pulsations 
of  joy;  the  tears  of  regret;  the  feebleness  of  purpose; 
the  pressure  of  want ;  the  desertion  of  friends ;  the 
scorn  of  the  world  that  has  little  charity;  the  deso- 
lation of  the  soul's  sanctuary,  and  threatening  voices 
within;  health  gone;  I  would  fain  leave  the  erring 
soul  of  my  fellow  man  with  him  from  whose  hands 
he  came."  Hospitable  in  the  extreme,  he  was  a 
fine  specimen  of  a  Virginia  gentleman.* 

*Macauley  in  his  Histoiy  of  England,  gives  a  vivid  description  of 
the  fine  old  English  gentleman;  and  it  is  copied  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
trasting it  with  the  "  fine  old  Virginia  gentleman." 

The  country  'squire  is  sketched  a  beer-drinking,  beef-eating  sensualist; 
coarse,  vulgar,  uneducated,  and  full  of  self-conceit;  while  his  wife  and 
daughters  we'-e  little,  if  any,  above  the  grade  of  cooks  and  chambermaids 
of  the  present  day.  In  fact,  those  useful  members  of  society,  cooks  and 
chambermaids,  might  blush  at  the  comparison  here  made.  The  treat- 
ment that  ecclesiastics  received  from  these  "fine  old  English  gentlemen," 
is  a  fair  test  of  their  character.     Macauley  says: 

"  The  coarse  and  ignorant  'squire,  who  thought  that  it  belonged  to  his 
dignity  to  have  grace  said  every  day  at  his  table,  by  an  ecclesiastic  in  full 
canonicals,  found  means  to  reconcile  dignity  with  economy.  A  young 
Levite — such  was  the  phrase  then  in  use — might  be  had  for  his  board,  a 
small  garret,  and  ten  pounds  a  year,  and  might  not  only  perform  his  own 
professional  functions,  might  not  only  be  the  most  patient  of  butts  and  lis- 
teners, might  not  only  be  always  ready  in  fine  weather  for  bowls,  and  in 
rainy  weather  for  shovelboard,  but  might  also  save  the  expense  of  a  gar- 
dener, or  a  groom.  Sometimes  the  reverend  man  nailed  up  the  apricots, 
and  sometimes  he  curried  the  coach-horses.  He  cast  up  the  farrier's  bills. 
He  walked  ten  miles  with  a  message  or  a  parcel.  If  he  was  permitted 
to  dine  with  the  family,  he  was  expected  to  content  himself  with  the 
plainest  fare.  He  might  fill  himself  with  the  corned  beef  and  carrots; 
but,  as  soon  as  the  tarts  and  cheesecakes  made  their  appearance,  he 
arose  and  stepped  aside  until  wanted,  to  return  thanks  for  a  meal  of 
which  he  had  enjoyed  only  a  small  portion !" 

This  is  only  one  phase  of  the  degradation  of  ecclesiastics  in  those  good 
old  times.  If  a  country  clergyman  was  so  weak  as  to  think  of  marriage, 
he  never  aspired  above  a  cook,  unless  he  were  willing  to  accept  the  hand 
of  some  lady's  maid,  who,  from  improprieties  of  life,  was  not  considered 
a  proper  match  for  the  butler! 

6 


42 


SIGNERS  OF  THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

And  the  tyrant  laughed,  ha!  ha. 

As  he  sat  on  his  blood-red  throne ; 
And  the  wail  of  a  million  souls  in  pain, 
From  the  sting  of  the  gyve  and  the  rusting  chain, 

Rolled  up  in  a  thunder-tone. 

And  the  tyrant  laughed,  ha !  ha ! 

At  that  echo  of  thunder-tone ; 
But  his  soul  was  in  terror,  for  well  he  knew 
In  spite  of  the  cries  of  his  hell-hound  crew, 

There  was  fire  underneath  his  throne. 

And  the  tyrant  laughed,  ha!  ha! 

And  his  red-iron  heel  went  down ; 
But  the  million  souls  which  it  trampled  npofl, 
Like  a  million  fen-fires  united  in  one, 

Flamed  up  to  that  tyrant's  crown. 

And  the  tyrant  laughed,  ha !  ha ! 

'Twas  a  terrible  laugh  laughed  he; 
'Twas  a  mad  laugh  that  rose,  as  he  writhed  in  pain, 
O'er  the  wreck  of  his  throne,  and  the  gyve,  and  the  chain, 

For  the  millions  he  trampled  were  free! 

Stuart. 

N  Mr.  Webster's  great  Bunker  Hill  oration, 
the  following  pregnant  passage  is  worthy  to 
be  written  in  the  records  of  every  American 
family : 

"It  has  been  said  with  very  much  veracity, 
that  the  felicity  of  the  American  colonists  con- 
sisted in  their  escape  from  the  past.  This  is  true, 
so  far  as  respects  political  embellishments,  but  no 
further.  They  brought  with  them  a  full  portion  of 
all  the  riches  of  the  past,  in  science,  in  art,  in  mo- 
rals, religion  and  literature.  The  Bible  came  with 
them.  And  it  is  not  to  be  doubted,  that  to  the 
free  and  universal  reading  of  the  blble,  is  to  be 
ascribed  in  that  age,  that  men  were  much  indebted 

FOR  RIGHT  VIEWS  OF  CIVIL  LIBERTY.       The  BlBLE  IS  A  BOOK 
OF  FAITH,  AND  BOOK  OF   DOCTRINE ;    BUT    IT   TEACHES  MAN 


SIGNERS  OF  THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.      43 

HIS  OWN  INDIVIDUAL  RESPONSIBILITY,  HIS  OWN  DIGNITY  AND 
HIS  EQUALITY  WITH  HIS  FELLOW  MEN. 

Congress  was  assembled  at  Independence  Hall, 
at  Philadelphia,  on  the  fourth  of  July,  1776,  when 
the  declaration  was  adopted. 

Connected  with  that  event,  the  following  touch- 
ing incident  is  related : 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  day  of  its  adoption,  the 
venerable  bell-man  ascended  to  the  steeple,  and  a 
little  boy  was  placed  at  the  door  of  the  Hall  to  give 
him  notice  when  the  vote  should  be  concluded. 
The  old  man  waited  long  at  his  post,  saying,  "They 
will  never  do  it,  they  will  never  do  it."  Suddenly 
a  loud  shout  came  np  from  below,  and  there  stood 
the  blue-eyed  boy,  clapping  his  hands,  and  shouting, 
"  Ring!  Ring! !"  Grasping  the  iron  tongue  of  the 
bell,  backward  and  forward  he  hurled  it  a  hundred 
times,  proclaiming — 

"LIBERTY   TO    THE    LAND   AND   TO    THE   INHABITANTS 
THEREOF  !" 

The  document  was  signed  on  the  same  day  by 
John  Hancock,  the  president  of  congress,  and  with 
his  name  alone  went  forth  to  the  world.  After  its 
engrossment  upon  parchment,  fifty-four  delegates 
signed  it  on  the  second  of  August  following,  and 
two  absentees  signed  it  subsequently,  making  the 
whole  number  of  signers  fifty-six. 

The  declaration  was  received  by  the  people  with 
the  most  extravagant  enthusiasm.  Processions 
were  formed,  bells  were  rung,  and  the  booming  of 
artillery  echoed  along  the  rivers,  and  from  lake  to 
lake,  until  it  was  lost  in  the  eternal  thunders  of 
Niagara ! 

Hills  flung  the  cry  to  hills  around, 

And  ocean  mart  replied  to  mart, 
And  streams,  whose  springs  were  yet  unfound, 
Pealed  far  away  the  startling  sound 

Into  the  forest's  heart. 


44      SIGNERS  OF  THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

Then  marched  the  brave  from  rocky  steep, 

From  mountain  rivers  swift  and  cold ; 
The  borders  of  the  stormy  deep, 
The  vales  where  gathered  waters  sleep, 

Sent  up  the  strong  and  bold, 

As  if  the  very  earth  again 

Grew  quick  with  God's  creating  breath, 

And  from  the  cods  of  grove  and  glen, 

Rose  ranks  of  lion-hearted  men 

To  battle  to  the  death.  Bryant. 

North  Carolina  has  long  claimed  the  honor  of 
having  issued  the  first  declaration  of  independence, 
more  than  a  year  previous  to  the  appearance  of 
the  famous  instrument  drawn  up  by  Jefferson, 
and  adopted  July  4th,  1776.  It  was  claimed  that 
this  first  declaration  was  issued  by  a  meeting  held 
in  Charlotte  town,  Mecklenburg  county,  N.  C,  in 
May,  1775.  It  first  became  notorious  in  1819, 
through  a  copy  published  in  the  Raleigh  Register. 
This  copy,  however,  Mr.  Jefferson  declared  spurious, 
and  never  until  lately  has  it  been  proved  authentic. 

But  a  few  months  since,  a  letter  from  Mr.  Ban- 
croft, our  minister  to  England,  was  read  in  the 
North  Carolina  legislature,  which  clears  up  all 
doubt.  Mr.  Bancroft  has  discovered  in  the  British 
State  Paper  Office,  a  copy  of  the  resolves  of  the 
committee  of  Mecklenburg,  which  was  sent  over  to 
England,  in  June,  1775,  by  Sir  James  Wright,  then 
governor  of  Georgia.  The  accompanying  letter  of 
governor  Wright,  closes  as  follows: 

"  By  the  enclosed  paper,  your  lordship  will  see 
the  extraordinary  resolves  of  the  people  of  Char- 
lotte town,  in  Mecklenburg  county,  and  I  should 
not  be  surprised  if  the  same  should  be  done  every- 
where else." 

Mr.  Bancroft  says  that  the  copy  of  the  declaration 
is  identically  the  same  with  that  published  in  the 
North  Carolina  paper. 

The  clause  of  the  declaration  of  1776,  charging  the 
king  with  having  "  urged  a  cruel  war  against  human 
nature  itself,"  was  not,  as  has  been  alledged,  stricken 


SIGNERS  OF  THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE.       45 

out  from  a  regard  to  the  feelings  of  slave  holders, 
but  from  a  sense  of  justice,  as  the  slave  trade  was 
begun  and  carried  on  long  before  George  the  Third. 

"By  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  in  1711,  the  British  government  secured  the 
right  to  bring  into  tlie  West  Indies,  belonging  to  his  Catholic  majesty,  in 
the  space  of  thirty  years,  one  hundred  and  forty-four  thousand  negroes, 
at  the  rate  of  four  thousand  eight  hundred  in  each  of  the  said  thirty 
years."  And  the  queen,  in  her  speech  before  parliament,  on  the  6th  of 
June,  1712,  in  terms  of  satisfaction,  states  that  "the  part  which  we  have 
borne  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  entitling  us  to  some  distinction  in 
the  terms  of  peace,  I  have  insisted  and  obtained  that  the  assiento  or  con- 
tract for  furnishing  the  Spanish  West  Indies  with  negroes,  shall  be  made 
with  us  for  the  term  of  thirty  years."  And  in  this  new  article  of  com- 
merce, all  persons  of  other  nations  were  strictly  forbidden  to  engage.  It 
was  reserved  for  the  exclusive  benefit  of  England,  and  so  profitable  was 
the  trade  deemed,  that  the  sovereign  of  Great  Britain  condescended  to 
become,  in  her  own  person,  the  chief  slave  trader  of  the  world.  Of  a 
company  formed  to  supply  the  colonies  of  America  with  slaves,  Queen 
Anne  subscribed  for  one-quarter  of  the  stock,  as  well  to  reap  the  profits 
from  the  adventure,  as  to  encourage  her  subjects  to  embark  in  the  enter- 
prise. 

Nor  was  her  example  without  its  desired  effect  upon  the  loyal  hearts 
of  her  subjects.  They  eagerly  embarked  in  a  traffic  which  promised, 
under  the  kind  influence  of  royalty,  to  produce  enormous  gains.  The 
plantations  of  America,  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Georgia,  became  stocked 
with  negroes,  in  spite  of  remonstrances  from  the  colonists.  Maryland, 
Virginia,  and  Carolina,  in  vain  endeavored  by  laws,  by  remonstrances 
and  protests,  to  stop  the  horrible  traffic  in  human  flesh.  It  was  too  pro- 
fitable for  the  British  cupidity  to  forego.  "  English  ships,  fitted  out  in 
English  cities,  under  the  special  favor  of  the  royal  family,  of  the  ministry, 
and  of  parliament,  stole  from  Africa  in  the  years  from  1700  to  1750,  pro- 
bably a  million  and  a  half  of  souls,"  and  it  is  estimated  that  the  returns 
to  English  merchants  for  their  trade  in  human  blood,  was  not  far  from 
four  hundred  millions  of  dollars. 

To  enlarge  this  enormous  trade,  the  ingenuity  of  parliament  was  con- 
stantly taxed  by  the  British  people.  They  might  differ  fiercely  on  the 
various  questions  of  the  day,  for  it  was  a  time  of  great  political  excite- 
ment— more  than  a  moiety  were  touched  in  their  consciences  lest  they 
excluded  the  rightful  possessor  of  the  throne — it  was  the  boasted  Au- 
gustan Age  of  Britain,  and  the  pages  of  her  poets  and  moralists  were 
filled  with  exquisite  delineations  of  virtue  and  goodness — her  Christian 
philanthropy  was  marked  by  the  establishment  of  missions  for  the  pro- 
mulgation of  the  gospel — her  venerable  bishops  were  sedulously  and 
anxiously  engaged  in  assuring  the  colonists  that  negroes  had  souls,  and 
ought  to  be  baptized,  yet  all,  with  one  consent,  were  clamorous  for  the 
further  exteusion  of  the  slave  trade. 

The  trade  had  been  restricted  by  royal  grants  to  favored  corporations. 
The  sagacity  of  the  English  merchants  taught  them  that  monopolies 
were  prejudicial  to  commerce,  and  they  maintained  that  if  the  trade  were 
thrown  open,  a  healthful  competition  would  reduce  the  price  of  negroes, 
and  ensure  an  abundant  supply.  The  justice  of  these  representations, 
seconded  by  the  voice  of  the  people,  could  not  be  resisted  by  an  impar- 
tial legislature,  ever  mindful  of  the  interests  of  those  it  represented.    Ac- 


46       SIGNERS  OF  THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 

cordingly,  in  1750,  parliament  passed  a  law,  laying  the  slave  trade  free 
and  open  to  all  her  majesty's  subjects.  Under  this  act,  the  first  essay  of 
the  British  government  in  free  trade,  removing  all  impediments  and 
restrictions,  vessels  were  fitted  out  at  every  port  to  embark  in  the  gainful 
traffic.  Thus  the  parliament  of  England,  by  the  enactment  of  laws,  her 
ministers  of  state,  by  instructions  and  by  treaties,  her  judges,  by  their 
expositions  from  the  bench,  and  the  sovereign,  by  commendation  from 
the  throne,  swelled  the  horrid  trade  in  human  flesh,  until  it  became  the 
chief  item  in  our  foreign  commerce.  An  obscure  hamlet  on  the  banks  of 
the  Mersey,  the  abode  of  a  few  fishermen,  was  made  the  depot  of  the 
trade.  It  has  risen  from  the  gains  of  slave-stealing  to  the  rank  of  the 
first  cities  of  Europe,  and  now  stands  in  all  its  pride  and  wealth  a  monu- 
ment of  prosperous  crime. 

At  the  declaration  of  independence,  slavery,  through  the  agency  of  Great 
Britain,  prevailed  in  all  the  colonies.  There  was  a  sentiment  of  deep 
regret  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  northern  and  some  of  the  southern 
provinces,  that  it  existed,  and  efforts  were  made  in  the  convention  of 
1787,  to  provide  for  its  extinction.  But  it  was  maintained  by  the  dele- 
gates from  the  south,  that  the  municipal  regulations  of  the  states  in  re- 
gard to  slavery  were  not  proper  subjects  for  the  legislative  action  of  the 
general  government.  The  northern  members  reluctantly  consented  to 
the  adoption  of  these  views,  and  only  from  the  conviction  that  no  union 
among  the  states  could  be  formed  without  this  compromise  of  opinion. 
— Bowen's  report  to  the  N.  Y.  Assembly,  February  20,  1849. 


The  following  is  an  extract  of  a  letter  from- John 
Adams,  alluding  to  the  first  prayer  in  congress : 

Here  was  a  scene  worthy  of  a  painter's  art.  It  was  in  Carpenters' 
Hall,  in  Philadelphia,  a  building  which  still  survives,  that  the  devoted  in- 
dividuals met  to  whom  this  service  was  read. 

Washington  was  kneeling  there,  and  Henry,  and  Randolph,  and  Rut- 
lege,  and  Lee,  and  Jay,  and  by  their  side  there  stood,  bowed  in  reverence, 
the  puritan  patriots  of  New  England,  who  at  that  moment  had  reason 
to  believe  that  an  armed  soldiery  were  wasting  their  humble  households. 
It  was  believed  that  Boston  had  been  bombarded  and  destroyed.  They 
prayed  fervently  for  "  America,  for  the  congress,  for  the  province  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  and  especially  for  the  town  of  Boston;  and  who  can 
realize  the  emotions  with  which  they  turned  imploringly  to  heaven  for 
divine  interposition  and  aid?  "It  was  enough"  to  melt  a  heart  of  stone. 
I  saw  the  tears  gush  into  the  eyes  of  the  old,  grave,  pacific  Quakers  of 
Philadelphia." 


JOHN   ADAMS.  47 


Lives  of  great  men  all  remind  us, 

We  can  make  our  lives  sublime ; 
And  departing  leave  behind  us, 

Footsteps  on  the  sands  of  Time. 

OME  one  has  truly  observed  that  we  are  far 
j  more  sensitive  to  the  influences  of  each 
&*  other,  than  the  most  delicate  plant  or  flower 
is  to  the  influences  of  the  soil  and  climate. 
The  very  presence  of  an  evil  spirit  among  us 
deeply  affects  us.  Such  a  person  may  neither 
say  or  do  any  evil  thing-,  and  yet  he  will  insensibly 
lower  the  tone  of  our  spirits,  just  as  a  snowbank  or 
iceberg  affects  all  the  atmosphere  about  it.  We  are 
sometimes  introduced  to  persons,  perfect  strangers, 
who  immediately  make  us  feel  that  good  is  passing 
out  of  us  to  restore  a  kind  of  spiritual  equilibrium 
which  their  presence  has  disturbed.  We  can  not 
account  for  it;  but  we  know  it  to  be  so.  It  is  a 
fact  of  our  consciousness. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  persons  who  always 
seem  to  create  or  carry  about  with  them,  a  heavenly 
or  spiritual  atmosphere.     As  soon  as  we  come  within 


48  JOHN   ADAMS. 

the  circle  of  their  influence,  though  they  say  not  a 
word  to  us,  and  we  know  nothing  of  their  history,  we 
feel  stronger  and  better;  we  feel  a  self-devotion,  a 
spiritual  aspiration,  that  is  not  familiar  to  us.  Their 
very  presence  is  a  benediction.  Heaven  seems 
nearer  and  more  attainable  to  us  than  ever  before. 

Of  the  latter  class  was  the  illustrious  patriot  John 
Adams.  He  was  a  direct  lineal  descendant  in  the 
fourth  generation  from  Henry  Adams,  who  fled 
from  the  persecution  in  England,  during  the  reign 
of  Charles  the  First.  He  was  born  at  Braintree,  now 
Quincy,  Massachusetts,  October  30th,  1735.  His 
paternal  ancestor  was  a  passenger  in  the  May- 
flower. He  graduated  at  Harvard  University  in  his 
twentieth  year;  after  which,  chosing  the  law  as  a 
profession,  he  entered  the  office  of  an  eminent  ad- 
vocate in  Worcester,  named  Putnam.  He  was 
called  to  the  bar  in  1758,  and  admitted  as  a  barrister 
in  1761.  In  1765,  during  the  excitement  relative  to 
the  stamp  act,  he  wrote  and  published  his  Essay 
on  the  Canon  and  Feudal  Law.  This  production 
at  once  elevated  him  in  the  popular  esteem.  The 
same  year  he  was  associated  with  James  Otis  and 
others,  to  demand,  in  the  presence  of  the  royal 
governor,  that  the  courts  should  dispense  with  the 
stamped  paper  in  the  administration  of  justice. 

In  1766,  having  married  Abigail  Smith,  the  daugh- 
ter of  a  pious  clergyman  of  Braintree,  Mr.  Adams 
removed  to  Boston.  There  he  zealously  united  with 
Hancock,  Otis,  and  others,  in  various  measures  for 
the  advancement  of  the  liberty  of  the  people.  He 
was  also  very  energetic  in  his  endeavors  to  have  the 
military  removed  from  the  town.  The  governor, 
Bernard,  misjudging  the  noble  soul  of  the  patriot, 
endeavored  to  bribe  him  to  silence,  but  his  offers 
were  rejected  with  disdain. 

In  1770,  he  was  chosen  a  representative  in  the  pro- 
vincial assembly.  He  was  subsequently  elected  to 
a  seat  in  the  executive  council,  but  having  become 


JOHN   ADAMS.  49 

obnoxious  to  both  governors,  Bernard  and  Hutchin- 
son, the  latter  erased  his  name.  Being  again  elected 
when  Governor  Gage  was  in  power,  he  too  erased 
his  name.  But  these  acts  only  served  to  increase 
the  popularity  of  Mr.  Adams.  The  assembly  at 
Salem  having  adopted  a  resolution  for  a  general 
congress,  notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  Gage  to 
prevent  it,  Mr.  Adams  was  appointed  one  of  the 
five  delegates,  and  took  his  seat  in  the  first  conti- 
nental congress,  convened  in  Philadelphia,  Septem- 
ber 5,  1774.  The  following  year  he  was  reelected, 
and  it  was  through  his  influence  that  George  Wash- 
ington was  elected  commander-in-chief  of  the 
colonial  forces. 

It  was  on  the  6th  of  May,  1776,  that  Mr.  Adams 
introduced  a  motion  in  congress,  "  that  the  colonies 
should  form  governments  independent  of  the  crown." 
This  was  equivalent  to  a  declaration  of  independ- 
ence; and  when  a  few  weeks  afterward  Richard 
Henry  Lee  introduced  a  more  explicit  motion,  Mr. 
Adams  was  one  of  its  warmest  supporters.  He  was 
appointed  one  of  a  committee,  consisting  of  himself, 
Franklin,  Jefferson,  Sherman  and  Livingston,  to 
draft  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  his  signa- 
ture was  placed  to  that  document  in  August,  1776. 

After  the  battle  of  Long  Island,  in  conjunction  with 
Dr.  Franklin  and  Edward  Rutledge,  he  was  ap- 
pointed by  congress  to  meet  Lord  Howe  in  confer- 
ence upon  Staten  Island  concerning  the  pacification 
of  the  colonies.  But,  as  he  had  predicted,  the 
mission  failed.  The  next  year  Mr.  Adams  was 
appointed  a  special  commissioner  to  the  court  of 
France,  whither  Dr.  Franklin  had  previously  gone. 
Returning  in  1779,  he  was  called  to  the  duty  of 
forming  a  constitution  for  his  native  state;  but  con- 
gress appointing  him  a  minister  to  Great  Britain  to 
negotiate  a  treaty  of  peace  and  commerce  with 
that  government,  he  left  Boston  in  October,  1779, 
and  arrived  at  Paris,  by  the  way  of  Spain,  in  Feb- 
7 


50  JOHN   ADAMS. 

ruary,  1790.  Having  found  England  indisposed  for 
peace,  if  independence  was  to  be  the  indispensa- 
ble condition,  he  was  about  to  return,  when  he  re- 
ceived the  appointment  by  congress  of  commissioner 
to  Holland,  to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  amity  and  com- 
merce with  the  states  general. 

In  1781  he  was  associated  with  Franklin,  Jay 
and  Laurens,  to  conclude  treaties  of  peace  with  the 
European  powers.  The  following  year,  he  assisted 
in  negotiating  a  commercial  treaty  with  Great  Brit- 
ain. In  1784,  Mr.  Adams  returned  to  Paris,  and  in 
January,  1785,  he  was  appointed  minister  for  the 
United  States  at  the  court  of  Great  Britain. 

The  following  is  an  extract  of  a  letter  to  Mr.  Jay, 
in  which  Mr.  Adams  describes  his  first  interview  with 
the  king.  Having  been  introduced  to  his  majesty 
by  the  marquis  of  Carmarthen,  he  says: 

"  I  went  with  his  lordship  through  the  levee-room  into  the  king's  closet ; 
the  door  was  shut,  and  I  was  left  with  his  majesty  and  the  secretary  of 
state  alone.  I  made  the  three  reverences — one  at  the  door,  another 
ahout  half  way,  and  the  third  before  the  presence — according  to  the 
usage  established  at  this  and  all  the  northern  courts  of  Europe,  and  then 
addressed  myself  to  his  majesty  in  the  following  words: 

"  'Sir,  the  United  States  have  appointed  me  their  minister  plenipoten- 
tiary to  your  majesty,  and  have  directed  me  to  deliver  to  your  majesty  this 
letter,  which  contains  the  evidence  of  it.  It  is  in  obedience  to  their  ex- 
press commands,  that  I  have  the  honor  to  assure  your  majesty  of  their 
unanimous  disposition  and  desire  to  cultivate  the  most  friendly  and  libe- 
ral intercourse  between  your  majesty's  subjects  and  their  citizens,  and  of 
their  best  wishes  for  your  majesty's  health  and  happiness,  and  for  that 
of  your  royal  family.  The  appointment  of  a  minister  from  the  United 
States  to  your  majesty's  court  will  form  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  Eng- 
land and  America.  I  think  myself  more  fortunate  than  all  my  fellow- 
citizens,  in  having  the  distinguished  honor  to  be  the  first  to  stand  in  your 
majesty's  royal  presence  in  a  diplomatic  character;  and  I  shall  esteem 
myself  the  happiest  of  men,  if  I  can  be  instrumental  in  recommending 
my  country  more  and  more  to  your  majesty's  royal  benevolence,  and  of 
restoring  an  entire  esteem,  confidence,  and  affection,  or,  in  better  words, 
"  the  old  good-nature,  and  the  old  good-humor,"  between  people  who, 
though  separated  by  an  ocean,  and  under  different  governments,  have 
the  same  language*  a  similar  religion,  and  kindred  blood.  I  beg  your 
majesty's  permission  to  add,  that  although  I  have  sometimes  before  been 
intrusted  by  my  country,  it  was  never,  in  my  whole  life,  in  a  manner  so 
agreeable  to  myself? 

The  king  listened  to  every  word  I  said,  with  dignity,  it  is  true,  but 
with  an  apparent  emotion.  Whether  it  was  the  n:  tine  of  the  interview, 
or  whether  it  was  my  visible  agitation,  for  I  felt  more  than  I  could  ex- 


JOHN   ADAMS.  51 

press,  that  touched  him,  I  can  not  say,  but  he  was  much  affected,  and 
answered  me  with  more  tremor  than  I  had  spoken  with,  and  said: 

" '  Sir,  the  circumstances  of  this  audience  are  so  extraordinary,  the 
language  you  have  now  held  is  so  extremely  proper,  and  the  feelings  you 
have  discovered  so  justly  adapted  to  the  occasion,  that  I  must  say  that  I 
not  only  receive  with  pleasure  the  assurances  of  the  friendly  disposition 
of*  the  people  of  the  United  States,  but  that  lam  very  glad  the  choice  has 
fallen  upon  you  to  be  their  minister.  I  wish  you,  sir,  to  believe,  and  that 
it  may  be  understood  in  America,  that  I  have  done  nothing  in  the  late 
contest  but  what  I  thought  myself  indispensably  bound  to  do,  by  the  dutj 
which  I  owed  to  my  people.  I  will  be  very  frank  with  you.  1  was  the 
last  to  conform  to  the  separation;  but  the  separation  having  been  made, 
and  having  become  inevitable,  I  have  always  said,  as  I  say  now,  that  I 
would  be  the  first  to  meet  the  friendship  of  the  United  States  as  an  in- 
dependent power.  The  moment  I  see  such  sentiments  and  language  as 
yours  prevail,  and  a  disposition  to  give  this  country  the  preference,  that 
moment  I  shall  say,  Let  the  circumstances  of  language,  religion,  and 
blood,  have  their  natural  and  full  effect.' " 

Having  occupied  this  honorable  post  until  1788, 
at  his  own  solicitation  he  was  recalled. 

The  federal  constitution  having  been  adopted 
during  his  absence,  it  received  his  most  cordial  ap- 
proval. Having  for  two  successive  terms  been 
elected  vice-president,  in  1796  he  was  chosen  to 
succeed  Washington  in  the  presidential  chair.  On 
the  4th  of  March,  1801,  his  administration  closed, 
when  he  retired  from  public  life. 

In  181S  he  lost  his  estimable  wife,  with  whom 
he  had  lived  for  more  than  half  a  century  in  unin- 
terrupted conjugal  felicity.  In  1825,  the  aged  patri- 
arch had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  his  son  an  occupant 
of  the  presidential  chair.  In  the  spring  of  the  fol- 
lowing year,  his  strength  rapidly  failed;  and  on  the 
morning  of  the  4th  of  July,  it  became  evident  that 
he  could  not  survive  many  hours.  On  being  asked 
for  a  toast  for  the  day,  the  last  words  he  ever  uttered 
were,  "Independence  forever!"  He  then  expired, 
in  the  92d  year  of  his  age. 

On  the  very  same  day,  and  at  nearly  the  same 
hour,  his  fellow  committeeman  in  drawing  up  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  Thomas  Jefferson, 
also  expired.  It  was  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
glorious  act,  and  the  wonderful  coincidence  made 
a  deep  impression  upon  the  public  mind. 


52  SAMUEL   ADAMS. 


vW^I^AS  a  native  of  Boston,  Massachusetts.  He 
^MMt  was  born  September  22,  1722.  Of  pilgrim 
f^fM^  ancestry,  he  was  early  inspired  with  the 
WJf principles  of  freedom.  His  father,  who  was 
f$»  very  wealthy,  and  who  for  many  years  was  a 
member  of  the  Massachusetts  assembly,  gave  him 
a  liberal  education.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  Col- 
lege, Cambridge,  in  1740,  at  the  age  of  18.  After 
serving  an  apprenticeship  to  Thomas  Clashing,  a 
distinguished  merchant  of  Boston,  he  was  famished 
with  means  by  his  father  to  commence  business 
himself.  But  having  a  strong  dislike  to  the  profes- 
sion, the  bias  of  his  mind  being  inclined  towards 
politics,  he  soon  became  almost  insolvent. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  lost  his  father,  when 
as  the  eldest  son,  the  cares  of  the  family  and  estate 
devolved  upon  him.  He  spent  notwithstanding 
much  time  in  writing  against  the  oppression  of  the 
mother  country.  In  1773  he  boldly  denied  the 
supremacy  of  parliament  and  suggested  a  union  of 


SAMUEL   ADAMS.  53 

all  the  colonies  for  self-defence.  In  1765  he  was 
elected  to  the  general  assembly,  where  he  became 
a  leader  of  the  opposition  to  the  royal  governor. 
He  was  the  originator  of  the  Massachusetts  Calen- 
dar, which  proposed  a  colonial  congress  to  be  held 
in  New  York,  and  which  was  held  there  in  1766. 

Mr.  Adams  was  among  those  who  secretly  ma- 
tured the  plan  of  proposing  a  general  congress.  He 
was  one  of  the  five  delegates  appointed,  and  took 
his  seat  September  5th,  1774.  He  continued  an 
active  member  of  congress  until  1781,  and  when 
his  name  was  affixed  to  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. 

Returning  from  congress,  after  holding  other  offi- 
ces, he  was  elected  governor  of  his  state.  To  that 
honorable  post  he  was  reelected  for  many  successive 
years.     He  died  October  3,  1803,  aged  eighty-two. 


It  is  said  of  Mr.  Adams  that  he  read  the  Bible  more  than  any  other 
book  in  his  library.  "How  comes  it  that  that  little  volume,  composed  by 
humble  men  in  a  rude  age  when  art  and  science  were  but  in  their  childhood, 
has  exerted  more  influence  on  the  human  mind  and  on  the  social  sys- 
tem, than  all  other  books  put  together?  Whence  comes  it  that  this  book 
has  achieved  such  marvelous  changes  in  the  opinions  of  mankind — has 
banished  idol  worship — has  abolished  infanticide — has  put  down  polyga- 
my and  divorce — exalted  tbe  condition  of  woman — raised  the  standard 
of  public  morality — created  for  families  that  blessed  thing,  a  Christian 
home — and  causes  its  other  triumphs  by  causing  benevolent  institutions, 
open  and  expansive,  to  spring  up  with  the  wand  of  enchantment  ?  What 
sort  of  a  book  is  this,  that  even  the  wind  and  waves  of  human  passions 
obey  it?  What  other  engine  of  social  improvement  has  operated  so  long, 
and  yet  lost  none  of  its  virtue  ?  Since  it  appeared,  many  boasted  plans 
of  amelioration  have  been  tried  and  failed,  many  codes  of  jurisprudence 
have  arisen,  run  their  course,  and  expired.  Empire  after  empire  has 
been  launched  on  the  tide  of  time,  and  gone  down,  leaving  no  trace  on 
the  waters.  But  this  book  is  still  going  about  doing  good — leading  soci- 
ety with  its  holy  principles — cheering  the  sorrowful  with  its  consolation 
— strengthening  the  tempted — encouraging  the  penitent — calming  the 
troubled  spirit — and  smoothing  the  pillow  of  death.  Can  such  a  book  be 
the  offspring  of  human  genius?  Does  not  the  vastness  of  its  effects  de- 
monstrate the  excellence  of  the  power  to  be  of  God !" 


54 


JOSIAH   BARTLETT. 


ESCENDED  of  Norman  ancestry,  was  born 
_.  Jat  Amesbury,  Massachusetts,  in  November, 

^JJ  1729.     About  the   year    1C97,   a  branch   of 
Vf^the  family,  which  was  then  resident  in  England, 
^emigrated  to  America,  and  settled  in  Amesbury. 

The  maiden  name  of  his  mother  was  Webster. 
After  acquiring  some  knowledge  of  Greek  and  Latin, 
at  the  age  of  sixteen  he  commenced  the  study  of 
medicine.  He  afterwards  commenced  practice  at 
Kingston,  New  Hampshire,  where  he  amassed  a 
competency.  In  1776,  after  holding  other  offices, 
he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  committee  of 
safety  of  his  state.  The  appointment  of  this  com- 
mittee alarmed  Wentworth,  the  governor,  who  im- 
mediately dissolved  the  assembly.  With  Dr.  Bart- 
lett  at  their  head,  however,  they  reassembled  in 
spite  of  the  governor.  Being  soon  afterwards 
elected  a  member  of  the  continental  congress,  the 
governor  struck  his  name  from  the  magistracy  list, 
and  deprived  him  of  the  command  of  a  regiment 


JOSIAH   BARTLETT.  55 

which  he  had  previously  held.  The  governor, 
alarmed  for  his  own  safety,  left  the  province,  when 
the  provincial  congress  reappointed  Dr.  Bartlett 
colonel  of  militia.  Having  been  twice  reelected  to 
the  continental  congress,  he  warmly  supported  the 
proposition  for  independence,  and  was  the  first  who 
signed  the  declaration.  In  1779  he  was  appointed 
chief  justice  of  the  court  of  common  pleas  of  New 
Hampshire,  and  subsequently  to  the  bench  of  the 
supreme  court.  After  serving  as  president  of  New 
Hampshire,  in  1793,  he  was  elected  the  first  governor 
of  that  state,  under  the  federal  constitution.  He 
died  on  the  19th  of  May,  1795,  in  the  66th  year  of 
his  age. 

Doctor  Bartlett  was  eminently  blessed  in  his  do- 
mestic relations,  and  in  an  affectionate  wife  and 
children  found  a  happy  relief  from  harrassing  public 
duties.  How  often  in  the  mad  pursuit  of  ambition 
are  "these  flowers  by  the  way  side"  trampled  upon 
and  unheeded?  How  beautifully  has  Jean  Paul 
said : 

Some  there  are  who  pass  all  these  things,  seeking  their  joy  in  cells  of 
sordid  care;  and  yet  it  should  seem  as  if  the  presence  of  the  latter  alone 
should  till  the  soul  with  music.  Bright  eyes,  red  cheeks,  and  sweet  young 
countenances,  appealing  in  love,  in  merriment,  in  confidence — it  is  not  in 
nature  to  resist  tlic  charm.  Were  I  only  for  a  time  almighty  and  powerful 
I  would  create  a  little  world  especially  for  myself,  and  suspend  it  under 
the  mildest  sun — a  world  where  I  would  have  nothing  but  lovely  little 
children;  and  these  little  things  I  would  never  suffer  to  grow  up,  but 
only  to  play  eternally.  If  a  seraph  were  weary  of  heaven,  or  his  golden 
pinions  drooped,  I  would  send  him  to  dwell  for  awhile  in  my  happy  in- 
fant world,  and  no  angel,  so  long  as  he  saw  their  innocence,  could  lose 
his  own. 

Come  foiled  Ambition  !  what  hast  thou  desired  ? 

Empire  and  power?    O!  wanderer,  tempest-tossed, 
These  once  were  thine,  when  life's  gay  spring  inspired 
Thy  soul  with  glories  lost ! 

From  these  thy  clasp  falls  palsied!     It  was  then 

That  thou  wertrich;  thy  coffers  are  a  lie! 
Alas,  poor  fool !  joy  is  the  wealth  of  men, 
And  care  their  poverty ! 


56  CARTER   BRAXTON. 


.jfS^MARTER  Braxton  was  born  at  Newington, 
wiS  Virginia,  Sept.  10,  1736.  After  graduating 
9  at  AVilliam  and  Mary  College,  the  subject 
|*df  this  memoir,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  married 
Miss  Judith  Robinson,  of  Middlesex  county. 
His  fortune  was  thereby  greatly  augmented. 
His  wife  died,  however,  at  the  birth  of  his  second 
child,  after  which  Mr.  Braxton  married  the  daughter 
of  Mr.  Corbin;  the  royal  receiver-general  of  the 
customs  in  Virginia.  By  his  second  wife  he  had 
sixteen  children.  In  1765  he  was  elected  to  the 
house  of  burgesses.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the 
Virginia  convention  in  1769.  In  December,  1775, 
he  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  continental  con- 
gress to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the  death  of 
Peyton  Randolph.  He  took  an  active  part  in  favor 
of  independence,  and  voted  for  and  signed  the  de- 
claration. The  following  year  he  returned  from 
congress,  and  resumed  his  seat  in  the  Virginia  legis- 
lature. He  was  afterwards  appointed  a  member  of 
the  council  of  the  state.  He  died  of  paralysis  on 
the  10th  of  October,  1797,  in  the  sixty-fourth  year 
of  his  age.     His  death  was  widely  lamented. 


CHARLES    CARROLL. 


57 


\A^r&J  ~tt^<r&<f7^ih^^ 


Vd    r\& 


(MSS^'R-  CARROLL  was  of  Irish  extraction.  His 
§jWlj/i  grandfather,  Daniel  Carroll,  emigrated  to 
g  jjjySEi  Maryland  about  1699,  and  under  the  patron- 
(3©  age  of  Lord  Baltimore,  became  the  possessor  of 
M*y\  a  large  plantation.  His  son  Charles,  the  father 
of  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  was  born  in  1702, 
and  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-eight,  when  he  left 
his  large  estate  to  his  eldest  son,  Charles,  then 
twenty-four  years  of  age.  The  latter  was  born  on 
the  20th  September,  1737.  Having  received  a  tho- 
rough education  abroad,  he  returned  to  Maryland 
in  1765,  a  finished  scholar  and  a  well-bred  gentle- 
man. Espousing  the  cause  of  the  patriots,  he  very 
soon  became  distinguished  as  a  political  writer. 
He  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  first  committee 
of  safety  of  Maryland,  and  in  1775  was  elected  to 
the  provincial  assembly.  In  1776  he  was  elected 
to  the  continental  congress.     He  arrived  too  late  to 


58  CHARLES    CARROLL. 

vote  for  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  but  in 
ample  time  to  append  his  name  to  that  document. 
He  continued  a  member  of  congress  until  1788, 
when  he  devoted  himself  exclusively  to  the  interests 
of  his  native  state.  Honored  and  revered  by  all,  he 
died  at  Baltimore,  November  14th,  1832,  in  the 
ninety-sixth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  the  last  sur- 
vivor of  the  fifty-six  signers  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence. 

For  a  long  term  of  years,  says  Lossing,  Mr.  Car- 
roll was  regarded  by  the  people  of  this  country  with 
the  greatest  veneration;  for  when  Adams  and  Jef- 
ferson died,  he  was  the  last  vestige  that  remained 
on  earth  of  the  holy  brotherhood  who  stood  sponsor 
at  the  baptism  in  blood  of  an  infant  republic. 

The  inquiry  no  doubt  frequently  recurs,  why  Mr. 
Carroll  appended  to  his  signature  the  place  of  his 
residence,  Carrollton.  It  is  said  that  when  he  wrote 
his  name,  a  delegate  near  him  suggested,  that  as 
he  had  a  cousin  of  the  name  of  Charles  Carroll,  in 
Maryland,  the  latter  might  be  taken  for  him,  and 
he,  the  signer,  escape  attainder,  or  any  other  pun- 
ishment that  might  fall  upon  the  heads  of  the 
patriots.  Mr.  Carroll  immediately  seized  the  pen, 
and  wrote,  oj  Carrollton,  at  the  end  of  his  name, 
remarking,  "They  can  not  mistake  me  now!" 


SAMUEL    CHASE. 


59 


a^f*-^ 


•  RACTISED  law  at  Annapolis.  He  was  born 
April,  1741,  in  Somerset  county,  Maryland. 
His  father  was  a  clergyman.  At  the  age 
of  twenty-two,  Samuel,  having  studied  law,  was 
admitted  to  the  bar  at  Annapolis,  where  he  fixed 
his  residence.  The  following  year  he  was  cho- 
sen a  member  of  the  provincial  assembly.  He  was 
one  of  the  five  delegates  sent  from  Maryland  to  the 
continental  congress  in  1774,  and  was  also  one  of 
the  committee  of  correspondence  for  that  colony. 
He  was  also  elected  to  congress  in  1775  and  1776, 
when  he  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
with  a  willing  hand.  In  1778  he  withdrew  from 
congress,  after  which,  in  1796,  on  the  nomination  of 
president  Washington,  he  was  confirmed  by  the  se- 
nate as  a  judge  of  the  supreme  court  of  the  U.  S.  The 
duties  of  this  office  he  performed  with  honesty  and 
integrity  for  fifteen  years.  His  useful  life  closed  on 
the  19th  of  June,  1811.  He  was  in  the  70th  year 
of  his  age.  He  was  a  man  of  great  benevolence 
and  an  exemplary  Christian. 


60 


ABRAHAM    CLARK. 


C 


EARED  upon  his  father's  farm,  in  Eliza- 
bethtown,  state  of  New  Jersey,  was  an  only 
3X%  child.  He  was  born  February  15,  1726. 
^He  become  a  practical  surveyor  and  also  studied 
law,  leaving  the  enviable  title  of  "the  poor  man's 
counsellor."  Although  he  held  several  offices 
under  the  royal  government,  when  the  right  moment 
arrived,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  espouse  the  republican 
cause.  In  1776  he  was  elected  to  the  continental 
congress,  where  he  voted  for  and  signed  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence.  He  remained  an  active 
member  of  Congress,  with  the  exception  of  one 
term,  until  the  proclamation  of  peace  in  1783.  In 
1788  he  was  again  elected  to  the  general  congress, 
and  was  a  member  of  the  convention  that  formed 
the  present  constitution  of  the  U.  S.  He  was  sub- 
sequently elected  to  the  first  congress  under  the  pre- 
sent federal  government,  in  which  post  he  continued 
until  the  close  of  his  life.  He  died  in  the  fall  of 
1794,  in  the  sixty-ninth  year  of  his  age. 


GEORGE    CLYMER. 


61 


ARLY  left  an  orphan,  was  born  at  Philadel- 
^j^  phia  in  1739.  A  maternal  uncle,  a  worthy 
■  man,  took  George  with  his  family  and  edu- 
cated him  as  his  own  son.  He  left  school  for 
%  the  counting  room  and  prepared  for  commercial 
life.  At  the  age  of  twenty-seven  he  married  a 
Miss  Meredith,  when  he  entered  into  the  mercantile 
business  with  his  father-in-law.  About  this  time  his 
uncle  died,  leaving  him  a  large  fortune.  Having 
early  espoused  republican  principles,  Mr.  Clymer 
was  placed  by  the  people  in  several  responsible  situ- 
ations. In  1776,  when  the  Pennsylvania  delegates 
in  the  general  congress  had  declined  signing  the 
Declaration  of  Independence,  he  with  Dr.  Rush 
were  appointed  to  succeed  them,  and  both  joyfully 
affixed  their  signatures.  He  was  reelected  to  con- 
gress in  1779,  when  he  enjoyed  the  confidence  of 


Washington. 


He  continued  in  congress  until  1782. 


He  was  a  member  of  the  convention  that  framed 
the  federal  constitution,  and  was  elected  to  the  first 
congress  under  its  provisions.  The  remainder  of 
his  life  was  spent  in  other  acts  of  public  and  private 
usefulness.     He  died  on  the  24th  of  February,  1813. 


62 


WILLIAM    ELLERY. 


ORN  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  December 

&&  22,  1727;  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in 

4$JM!m  1747,  at  the  age  of  twenty ;  and  afterwards 

commenced  the  practice  of  the  law  at  New- 
port, where  he  acquired  a  fortune.  Enjoying 
the  entire  confidence  of  his  fellow  citizens,  he 
was  soon  called  into  active  service  in  the  cause  of 
patriotism.  In  1776  he  was  sent  with  Stephen 
Hopkins  as  a  delegate  to  the  general  congress,  where 
he  voted  for  and  signed  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. After  holding  many  honorable  offices 
in  his  state,  he  was  appointed  judge  of  the  supreme 
court  of  Rhode  Island,  where,  in  connection  with 
Rums  King  of  New  York,  he  made  strenuous  efforts 
for  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  United  States. 
After  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  in  178S,  he 
was  appointed  collector  of  the  port  of  Newport, 
which  office  he  held  until  his  death.  He  died  on 
the  loth  of  February,  1820.  He  was  a  true  patriot 
and  a  sincere  Christian. 


WILLIAM   FLOYD. 


63 


NOWN  as  an  active  and  eminent  American 
statesman,  was  of  Welsh  descent.  His 
&0£nm.  grandfather  emigrated  from  that  country,  in 
j^  1680,  and  settled  at  Setauket,  Long  Island. 
£x  William  was  born  December  17th,   1734. 


His 

father  dying  soon  after  William  had  closed  his 
studies,  the  supervision  of  a  large  estate  devolved 
upon  him.  Having  early  espoused  the  republican 
cause,  he  was  soon  called  into  active  life.  He  was 
a  prominent  member  of  the  continental  congress  in 

1774,  and  was  military  commander  of  the  militia 
in  Suffolk  county.     He  was  reelected  to  congress  in 

1775,  when  he  warmly  supported  the  resolutions  of 
Mr.  Lee,  and  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
He  was  afterwards  elected  a  senator  in  the  first 
legislative  body  that  convened  in  New  York.  Being 
again  elected  to  congress  in  1780,  he  remained  in 
that  body  until  the  declaration  of  peace,  in  1783. 
In  1788,  after  the  newly  adopted  constitution  was 
ratified,  he  became  a  member  of  the  first  congress 


64  WILLIAM    FLOYD. 

which  convened  under  that  charter  in  the  city  of 
New  York  in  1789.  Declining  a  reelection,  he  re- 
tired from  public  life.  In  1800  he  was  chosen  a 
presidential  elector,  and  subsequently  held  other 
honorable  offices.  He  died  August  4th,  1821,  in  his 
eighty-seventh  year.  His  long  and  active  life 
proved  of  invaluable  service  to  his  country;  and  his 
numerous  excellencies  of  character  made  him  uni- 
versally beloved. 

When  a  good  man  dies,  "  his  works  follow  him." 
Many  rise  to  call  him  blessed.  His  memory  does 
not  perish  even  from  the  earth.  Even  here  he  is 
immortal.  His  flesh  moulders  in  the  grave  to  be 
sure,  and  his  spirit  ascends  to  God,  but  his  holy  acts 
of  devotion  to  God  while  he  yet  dwelt  among  us, 
still  live,  and  like  seed  planted  in  his  life-time 
spring  forth  after  his  death,  grow  up,  nourish  and 
bear  fruit  to  the  honor  of  his  memory  and  the  glory 
of  his  God.  He  who  would  live  long  should  fill  up 
his  days  with  labors  of  love,  then  shall  he  abide  in 
sacred  recollection,  even  after  the  spirit  has  entered 
its  rest.  Who  does  not  feel  and  know  this  to  be  true  ? 
Who  but  loves  and  fondly  cherishes  the  memory 
of  the  just! 

Professsor  Hufeland  in  his  work  on  Death,  has  the 
following  interesting  passage: 

"  People  form  the  most  singular  conception  of  the  last  struggle,  the 
separation  of  the  sonl  from  the  body,  and  the  like.  But  this  is  all  void 
of  foundation.  No  man  certainly  ever  felt  what  death  is;  and  as  msen- 
siblv  as  we  enter  into  life,  equally  insensible  do  we  leave  it.  The  begin- 
ning and  the  end  are  here  united.  My  proofs  are  as  follows:  First, 
man  can  have  no  sensation  of  dying;  for,  to  die,  means  nothing  more 
than  to  lose  the  vital  power,  and  it  is  the  vital  power  which  is  the  medium 
of  communication  between  the  soul  and  body.  In  proportion  as  the 
vital  power  decreases,  we  lose  the  power  of  sensation  and  of  conscious- 
ness; and  we  can  not  lose  life  without  at  the  same  time,  or  rather  before, 
losin'"  our  vital  sensation,  which  requires  the  assistance  of  the  tenderest 
organs.  We  are  taught  also  by  experience,  that  all  those  who  ever  passed 
through  the  first  stage  of  dea'th,  and  were  again  brought  to  life,  unani- 
mously asserted  that  they  felt  nothing  of  dying,  but  sunk  at  once  into  a 
state  of  insensibility." 


BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN. 


65 


The  thunders  of  a  mighty  age, 

May  drown  the  voices  of  the  past, 
But  thou,  the  printer  and  the  sage, 

Shall  speak  thy  wisdom  to  the  last. 

EW  men  furnish  a  happier  subject  for  the 
biographer,  than  this  great  philosopher  and 
statesman.  It  is  not  merely  that  the  his- 
tory of  Franklin  is  intimately  interwoven  with 
that  of  one  of  the  mightiest  political  move- 
ments which  the  world  has  ever  witnessed,  and 
that  it  was  in  great  part  by  his  hands  that  the  founda- 
tions were  laid  of  a  powerful  and  flourishing  repub- 
lic; if  this  were  all,  his  life,  to  the  generality  of 
readers,  would  be  rather  a  tale  of  wonder  than  a 
lesson.  But  the  achiever  of  such  high  political  re- 
sults, was  not  more  remarkable  or  interesting  as  a 
public  character  than  as  a  private  individual;  and 
in  the  latter  capacity  the  record  of  his  progress  from 
boyhood  to  old  age,  is  full  of  instruction  for  all. 
9 


66  BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN. 

Benjamin  Franklin  was  born  in  Boston,  Mass., 
on  the  17th  day  of  January,  1706.  His  father  was 
a  true  Puritan,  and  emigrated  hither  from  England, 
in  1682.  He  soon  afterward  married  Miss  Folger, 
a  native  of  Boston.  Being  neither  a  mechanic  nor 
farmer,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the  business  of  a 
soap  boiler  and  tallow  chandler,  which  was  his  oc- 
cupation for  life.* 

The  parents  of  Benjamin  wished  him  to  be  a 
minister  of  the  gospel,  and  they  began  to  educate 
him  with  that  end  in  view,  but  their  slender  means 
were  not  adequate  for  the  object,  and  the  intention 
was  abandoned.  He  was  kept  at  a  common  school 
for  a  few  years,  and  then  taken  into  the  service  of 
his  father.  The  business  did  not  please  the  boy, 
and  he  was  entered  on  probation,  with  a  cutler. 
The  fee  for  his  admission  to  apprenticeship  was  too 
high,  and  he  abandoned  that  pursuit  also,  and  was 
put  under  the  instruction  of  an  elder  brother,  who 
was  a  printer.  There  he  continued  until  he  became 
quite  proficient,  and  all  the  while  he  was  remark- 
able for  his  studiousness,  seldom  spending  an  hour 
from  his  books,  in  idle  amusement.  At  length  the 
harmony  between  himself  and  brother  was  inter- 
rupted, and  he  left  his  service  and  went  on  board 
of  a  vessel  in  the  harbor,  bound  for  New  York.  In 
that  city  he  could  not  obtain  employment,  and  he 
proceeded  on  foot  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  arrived 
on  a  sabbath  morning.  He  was  then  but  seventeen 
years  old,  friendless  and  alone,  with  but  a  single 
dollar  in  his  pocket.  He  soon  found  employment 
as  compositor,  in  one  of  the  two  printing  establish- 
ments then  in  Philadelphia,  and  was  at  once  no- 
ticed and  esteemed  by  his  employers,  for  his  indus- 
try and  studious  habits. 

Having  written  a  letter  to  a  friend  at  New  Castle, 
in  Delaware,  in  which  he  gave  a  graphic  account 
of  his  journey  from  Boston  to  Philadelphia,  which 

*  Lossing. 


BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  67 

letter  was  shown  to  Gov.  Keith,  of  that  province, 
that  functionary  became  much  interested  in  the 
young  journeyman  printer,  and  invited  him  to  his 
mansion.  Friendship  succeeded  the  first  interview, 
and  the  governor  advised  him  to  set  up  business  for 
himself,  and  offered  his  patronage.  The  plan  of 
operation  was  rather  an  extensive  one,  and  involved 
the  necessity  of  making  a  voyage  to  England  for 
materials.  Franklin  went  to  London,  but  found 
Sir  William  Keith's  patronage  of  so  little  avail,  that 
he  was  obliged  to  seek  employment  for  his  daily 
bread.  He  obtained  a  situation  as  journeyman 
printer  in  one  of  the  principal  offices  there,  and  by 
the  same  line  of  industry,  studiousness,  punctuality 
and  frugality,  he  soon  won  to  himself  numerous 
friends.  Unfortunately  he  was  thrown  in  the  way 
of  some  distinguished  infidels  while  he  was  in 
London,  (among  whom  was  Lord  Mandeville,)  and 
received  flattering  attentions  from  them.  His  mind 
became  tinctured  with  their  views,  and  he  was  in- 
duced to  write  a  pamphlet  upon  deistical  meta- 
physics, a  performance  which  he  afterward  regretted, 
and  candidly  condemned. 

With  the  fruits  of  his  earnings  Franklin  resolved 
to  take  a  trip  to  the  continent,  but  just  as  he  was 
on  the  point  of  departure,  he  received  an  offer  from 
a  mercantile  friend,  about  to  sail  for  America,  to 
accompany  him  as  a  clerk.  He  accepted  it,  and 
embarked  for  home  in  July,  1726. 

With  his  new  employer,  at  Philadelphia,  Franklin 
had  before  him  a  prospect  of  prosperity  and  wealth, 
but  soon  a  heavy  cloud  obscured  the  bright  vision. 
His  friend  died,  and  once  more  Franklin  became  a 
journeyman  printer  with  his  old  employer.  In  a 
short  time  he  formed  a  partnership  with  another 
printer,  and  commenced  business  in  Philadelphia, 
where  his  character,  habits,  and  talents,  soon  gained 
him  warm  friends,  public  confidence,  and  a  success- 


68  BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN. 

ful  business  *  So  multifarious  were  the  public  and 
private  labors  of  usefulness  of  this  great  man,  from 
this  period  until  his  death,  that  our  circumscribed 
limits  will  permit  us  to  notice  them  only  in  brief 
chronological  order. 

In  1732  Franklin  began  his  useful  annual,  called 
Poor  Bichard's  Almanac.  It  Avas  widely  circulated 
in  the  colonies  and  in  England,  and  was  translated 
into  several  continental  languages  of  Europe.  It 
continued  until  1757.  About  the  same  time  he 
commenced  a  newspaper,  which  soon  became  the 
most  popular  one  in  the  colonies.  By  constant, 
persevering  study,  he  acquired  a  knowledge  of  the 
Latin,  French,  Spanish  and  Italian  languages.  He 
projected  a  literary  club,  called  the  Junto,  and  the 
books  which  they  collected  for  their  use,  formed  the 
nucleus  of  the  present  extensive  Philadelphia  Li- 
brary. He  wrote  many  pamphlets  containing  es- 
says upon  popular  subjects,  which  were  read  with 
avidity,  and  made  him  very  popular.  With  his 
popularity,  his  business  increased,  and  his  pecuniary 
circumstances  became  easy  in  a  few  years. 

In  1734,  he  was  appointed  government  printer 
for  Pennsylvania,  and  in  1736  he  received  the  ap- 
pointment of  clerk  of  the  general  assembly.  The 
next  year  he  was  made  postmaster  of  Philadelphia. 
The  income  arising  from  these  offices  and  from  his 
business,  relieved  him  from  constant  drudgery,  and 
left  him  leisure  for  philosophical  pursuits,  and  the 
advancement  of  schemes  for  the  public  good. 

In  1741  he  commenced  the  publication  of  the 
General  Magazine  and  Historical  Chronicle  for  the 
British  Plantations,  which  had  a  wide  circulation. 
In  1744  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  general 
assembly,  and  was  annually  reelected,  for  ten  con- 

*  In  1730  he  married  a  young  widow  lady,  whose  maiden  name  was 
Read.  He  had  sought  her  hand  hefore  going  to  England,  hut  she  gave 
it  to  another.  Her  hushand  died  while  Franklin  was  ahsent,  and  their 
intimacy  was  renewed  soon  after  his  return. 


BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  69 

secutive  years.  It  was  about  this  time  that  he  made 
some  of  his  philosophical  discoveries,  upon  the 
mysterious  wings  of  which  his  fame  spread  world- 
wide. 

In  1753  he  was  appointed  a  commissioner  to  treat 
with  the  Indians  at  Carlisle.  In  1754  he  was  a 
delegate  from  Pennsylvania  to  a  convention  of 
representatives  of  the  colonies  that  met  at  Albany 
to  consult  upon  the  general  defence  and  security 
against  the  French.  He  there  proposed  an  admira- 
ble plan  of  union.  About  this  time  he  was  ap- 
pointed deputy  postmaster-general.  He  was  also 
active  in  improving  the  military  affairs  of  the  colony, 
and  rendered  Gen.  Brad  dock  distinguished  service 
in  providing  material  for  his  expedition  against  Fort 
Du  Qnesne.  In  1757  Franklin  Avas  sent  by  the 
general  assembly  of  the  province  to  London,  as  its 
counsel  in  a  dispute  with  the  governor;  and  he  so 
managed  the  case  as  to  obtain  a  verdict  for  the 
assembly.  He  remained  a  resident  agent  for  the 
colony  in  England,  for  five  years,  and  tbrmed  many 
valuable  acquaintances  while  there.  On  his  return 
he  was  publicly  thanked  by  the  general  assembly, 
and  the  sum  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  presented 
to  him  as  compensation  for  his  important  services. 

In  1764,  he  was  again  sent  to  England  as  agent 
for  the  colony,  upon  business  similar  to  that  for 
which  he  was  first  sent,  and  he  was  there  when  the 
stamp  act  was  passed,  loudly  and  boldly  protesting 
against  it.  His  opinions  had  great  weight  there; 
and  having  been  appointed  agent  for  several  of  the 
colonies,  the  eyes  of  statesmen  at  home  and  abroad 
were  turned  anxiously  to  him,  as  the  storm  of  the 
revolution  rapidly  gathered  in  dark  and  threatening 
clouds.  He  labored  assiduously  to  effect  concilia- 
tion, and  he  did  much  to  arrest  for  a  long  time  the 
blow  that  finally  severed  the  colonies  from  the  mo- 
ther  country.     Satisfied  at  length  that  war  was 


70  BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN. 

inevitable,  he  returned  home  in  1775,  and  was  at 
once  elected  a  delegate  to  the  general  congress. 
He  was  again  elected  in  1776,  and  was  one  of  the 
committee  appointed  to  draft  a  declaration  of  inde- 
pendence, voted  for  its  adoption,  and  signed  it  on 
the  second  of  August. 

In  September,  1776,  Franklin  was  appointed  one 
of  three  commissioners  to  meet  Lord  Howe  in  con- 
ference on  Staten  Island,  and  hear  his  propositions 
for  peace.  The  attempt  at  conciliation  proved 
abortive,  and  hostilities  commenced.  About  this 
time  a  convention  was  called  in  Pennsylvania,  for 
the  purpose  of  organizing  a  state  government,  ac- 
cording to  the  recommendation  of  the  general  con- 
gress. Franklin  was  chosen  its  president,  and  his 
wisdom  was  manifested  in  the  constitution  which 
followed.  He  was  appointed  by  congress  a  com- 
missioner to  the  court  of  France,  to  negotiate  a 
treaty  of  alliance.  Although  then  over  seventy 
years  of  age,  he  accepted  the  appointment,  and 
sailed  in  October,  1776.  He  was  received  with  dis- 
tinguished honors,  and  strong  expressions  of  sym- 
pathy in  behalf  of  his  country  were  made;  yet  the 
French  ministry  were  so  cautious,  that  it  was  not 
until  after  the  news  of  the  capture  of  Burgoyne 
(Oct.  1777,)  reached  them,  and  American  affairs 
looked  brighter,  that  they  would  enter  into  a  formal 
negotiation.  A  treaty  was  finally  concluded,  and 
was  signed  by  Franklin  and  the  French  minister, 
in  February,  1778.  America  was  acknowledged 
independent,  and  the  French  government  openly 
espoused  her  cause.  Franklin  was  invested  by 
congress  with  almost  unlimited  discretionary  pow- 
ers, "and  his  duties  were  very  arduous  and  complex ; 
yet  he  discharged  them  with  a  fidelity  and  skill 
which  excited  the  admiration  of  Europe.  Great 
Britain  at  length  yielded,  and  consented  to  negotiate 
a  treaty  of  peace  upon  the  basis  of  American  inde- 


BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  71 

pendence;  and  on  the  third  day  of  September,  1783, 
Doctor  Franklin  had  the  pleasure  of  signing  a  de- 
finitive treaty  to  that  effect. 

Franklin  now  asked  leave  of  congress  to  return 
home  to  his  family,  but  he  was  detained  there  until 
the  arrival  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  his  successor,  in  1785. 
His  return  to  the  United  States  was  received  with 
every  demonstration  of  joy  and  respect  from  all 
classes.  Notwithstanding  he  was  upwards  of  eighty 
years  of  age,  the  public  claimed  his  services,  and  he 
was  appointed  governor  of  Pennsylvania,  which 
office  he  held  three  years.  In  1787  he  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  convention  which  framed  the  present 
constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  this  was  the 
last  public  duty  he  performed.  The  gout  and  stone, 
from  which  he  had  suffered  for  many  years,  ter- 
minated his  life  on  the  17th  of  April,  1790,  in  the 
84th  year  of  his  age. 

A  vast  concourse  of  people  followed  his  body  to 
the  grave,  and  not  only  this  country,  but  the  whole 
civilized  world,  mourned  his  loss. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  moral  virtues  drawn 
up  by  Dr.  Franklin  for  the  regulation  of  his  life: 

1.  Temperance. — Eat  not  to  dulness;  drink  not  to 
elevation. 

2.  Silence. — Speak  not  but  what  may  benefit 
others  or  yourself;  avoid  trifling  conversation. 

3.  Order. — Let  all  your  things  have  their  places; 
let  each  part  of  your  business  have  its  time. 

4.  Resolution. — Resolve  to  perform  what  you 
ought;  perform  without  fail  what  you  resolve. 

5.  Frugality. — Make  no  expense  but  to  do  good 
to  others  or  yourself;  that  is,  waste  nothing. 

6.  Industry. — Lose  no  time;  be  always  employed 
in  something  useful ;  cut  off  all  unnecessary  actions. 

7.  Sincerity. — Use  no  hurtful  deceit ;  think  inno- 
cently and  justly;  and,  if  you  speak,  speak  accord- 
ingly. 


72  BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN. 

8.  Justice. — Wrong  none  by  doing  injuries,  or 
omitting  the  benefits  that  are  your  duty. 

9.  Moderation. — Avoid  extremes;  forbear  resent- 
ing injuries  so  much  as  you  think  they  deserve. 

JO.   Cleanliness. — Tolerate   no   uncleanliness   in 
body,  clothes,  or  habitation. 

11.  Tranquility. — Be  not  disturbed  at  trifles,  or 
at  accidents  common  or  unavoidable. 

12.  Chastity 

13.  Humility. — Imitate  Jesus  and  Socrates. 


"William,  the  son  of  Dr.  Franklin,  was  born  in  1731.  He  was  a  cap- 
tain in  the  French  war,  and  served  at  Ticonderoga.  In  1763  he  was 
appointed  governor  of  New  Jersey.  In  this  office  he  continued,  firm  in 
his  loyalty  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  revolution,  when  the  whigs  sent 
him  to  Connecticut.  On  his  release  he  went  to  England,  where  a  pen- 
sion was  conferred  upon  him  for  his  losses.  He  died  in  1813,  aged 
eighty-two.     He  was,  we  believe,  the  last  of  the  line. 

"  We  are  going  to  speculate  about  the  causes  of  the  fact — but  a  fact  it 
is — that  men  distinguished  for  extraordinary  intellectual  power,  of  any 
sort,  rarely  leave  more  than  a  very  brief  line  of  progeny  behind  them. 
Men  of  genius  have  scarcely  ever  done  so — men  of  imaginative  genius, 
we  might  say,  almost  never.  With  the  one  exception  of  the  noble  Surrey, 
we  can  not,  at  this  moment,  point  out  a  representative  in  the  male  line, 
even  so  far  down  as  in  the  third  generation,  of  any  English  poet,  and  we 
believe  the  same  is  the  case  in  France.  The  blood  of  beings  of  that 
order  can  seldom  be  traced  tar  down,  even  in  the  female  line.  With 
the  exception  of  Surrey  and  Spencer,  we  are  not  aware  of  any  English 
author  of  at  all  remote  day,  from  whose  body  any  living  person  claims 
to  be  descended.  There  is  no  other  real  English  poet  prior  to  the  mid- 
dle of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  we  believe  no  great  author  of  any  sort, 
except  Clarendon  and  Shaftsbury,  of  whose  blood  we  have  any  inherit- 
ance amongst  us.  Chaucer's  only  son  died  childless.  Shnkspeare's  line 
expired  in  his  daughter's  only  daughter.  None  of  the  other  dramatists 
of  that  age  have  left  any  progeny — nor  Raleigh,  nor  Bacon,  nor  Cowley, 
nor  Butler.  The  grand-daughter  of  Milton  was  the  last  of  his  blood. 
Neither  Bolingbroke,  Addison,  Warburton,  Johnson,  nor  Burke,  trans- 
mitted their  blood. 

"  When  a  human  race  has  produced  its  •  bright  consummate  flower,' 
in  this  kind,  it '  seems  commonly  to  be  near  its  end.' 

"  The  theory  is  illustrated  in  our  own  day.  The  two  greatest  names 
in  science  and  literature  of  our  time,  were  Davy  and  Sir  Walter  Scott. 
The  first  died  childless.  Sir  Walter  Scott  left  four  children,  of  whom 
three  are  dead,  only  one  of  them,  (Mrs.  Lockhart,)  leaving  issue,  and  the 
fourth,  his  eldest  son,  though  living,  and  long  married,  has  no  issue." — 
Democratic  Review. 


BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  73 

When  Franklin  was  a  journeyman  printer  in  London,  among  his  fel- 
low workmen  was  a  James  Huddleston  Wynne,  related  to  a  very  re- 
spectable family  in  South  Wales.  But  Wynne  becoming  disgusted  with 
the  business,  obtained  a  lieutenantcy  in  a  regiment  about  to  set  out  for 
India.  Quarreling  however  with  his  brother  officers,  he  was  left  behind 
when  the  ship  arrived  at  the  Cape.  He  then  returned  to  England,  where 
he  married.  It  was  about  this  time  that  Mr.  Wynne  thought  of  com- 
mencing author,  and  his  first  application  in  that  way  was  to  Mr.  George 
Kearsley,  bookseller,  Fleet  street,  whose  liberality  enabled  him  to  sup- 
port his  family.  He  had  two  other  employers:  one  in  Paternoster  row, 
the  other  in  May  fair.  For  the  first  he  was  doomed  periodically  to  write 
rebuses  and  enigmas;  for  the  other,  petty  fables,  children's  lessons  in 
verse,  or  to  devise  new  fangled  modes  of  playing  the  game  of  goose.  As 
these  two  pillars  of  literature  lived  at  so  great  distance  apart,  our  poor 
poet,  who  had  suffered  a  total  derangement  of  the  muscles  of  his  right 
leg,  was  almost  reduced  to  a  skeleton  by  his  attendance  on  them.  When 
he  had  written  a  dozen  lines  for  a  child's  play-card,  or  half  a  page  of  a 
monthly  magazine,  our  poet  was  obliged  to  go  with  his  stock  of  com- 
modity from  Bloomsbury,  where  he  occupied  an  attic,  first  to  May  fair, 
and  tlien  to  Paternoster  row;  and  the  remuneration  he  received  for  the 
effusions  of  his  brain  was  frequently  insufficient  to  procure  him  the 
means  of  existence. 

Mr.  Wynne's  figure  was  below  the  middle  stature;  his  face  thin  and 
pale ;  his  head  scantily  covered  with  black  hair,  collected  in  a  tail  about 
the  thickness  of  a  tobacco-pipe;  his  emaciated  right  leg  was  sustained  by 
an  unpolished  iron — he  wore  his  gloves  without  fingers,  and  his  clothes 
in  tatters.  In  such  a  trim  he  one  day  entered  the  shop  of  Mr.  Kearsley, 
the  bookseller,  who  possessed  a  heart  susceptible  of  every  good,  and  a 
heart  ever  ready  to  relieve  distress.  Mr.  K.'s  shop  was  the  lounge  for 
gentlemen  of  literary  attachment,  who  stopped  to  inquire  the  occurrences 
of  the  day;  and  several  persons  of  fashion  were  present  when  Wynne 
entered,  and  began  to  talk  in  a  way  that  showed  want  of  good  breeding. 
His  shabby  appearance,  together  with  his  unbridled  loquacity,  threw 
Kearsley  into  a  fever  until  he  got  rid  of  him ;  after  which,  moved  at  the 
indelicacy  of  his  appearance,  Mr.  K.,  from  the  purest  motives,  took  a  suit 
of  his  clothes,  almost  new,  and  with  other  appendages,  bundled  them 
together  in  a  handkerchief,  and  with  a  polite  note,  sent  them  after  Mr. 
W.  to  his  lodgings.  As  this  was  done  without  the  knowledge  of  a  third 
person,  and  in  so  polite  a  way,  it  would  be  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
Mr.  Wynne  received  the  gift  with  thankfulness,  at  least  with  good  man- 
ners; but  the  result  proved  otherwise.  He  stormed  like  a  madman,  and 
in  a  rage  returned  the  bundle,  though  he  was  covered  with  rags  like  a 
pauper ;  writing  by  the  porter,  that  "  the  pity  he  had  experienced  was 
brutality;  the  officiousness  to  serve  him  insolence;  and  if  ever  Mr.  K. 
did  the  like  again  till  he  was  requested,  he  would  chastise  him  in  another 
way."  This  would  have  been  a  wren  pouncing  upon  an  eagle;  for  Mr. 
Kearsley  was  a  tall,  stout  man — a  Colossus  to  Wynne. 

Notwithstanding  the  preceding,  Mr.  Wynne  was  not  without  his  at- 
tachment to  dress  and  fashion.  A  short  time  previous  to  his  publish- 
ing his  History  of  Ireland,  he  expressed  a  desire  to  dedicate  it  to  the 
Duke  of  Northumberland,  who  was  just  returned  from  being  lord- 
lieutenant  of  that  country.  For  that  purpose  he  waited  on  Dr.  Percy, 
and  met  with  a  very  polite  reception.  The  duke  was  made  acquainted 
with  his  wishes,  and  Dr.  Percy  went  as  the  messenger  of  good  tidings 
to  the  author.  But  there  was  more  to  be  done  than  a  formal  introduc- 
tion; the  poor  writer  intimated  this  to  the  good  doctor;  who  in  the  most 

10 


74  BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN. 

delicate  terms  begged  his  acceptance  of  an  almost  new  suit  of  black, 
which,  with  a  very  little  alteration,  might  be  made  to  fit.  This  the  doc- 
tor urged  would  be  the  best,  as  there  was  not  time  to  provide  a  new  suit 
and  other  things  necessary  for  his  debut,  as  the  duke  had  appointed  Mon- 
day in  the  next  week  to  give  the  historian  an  audience.  Mr.  Wynne  ap- 
proved of  the  plan  in  all  respects  and  in  the  mean  time  had  prepared 
himself  with  a  set  speech  and  a  manuscript  of  the  dedication.  But  to 
digress  a  little,  it  must  be  understood  that  Dr.  Percy  was  considerably  iu 
stature  above  Mr.  W.,  and  his  coat  sufficiently  large  to  wrap  around  the 
latter,  and  conceal  him.  The  morning  came  for  the  author's  public  en- 
try at  Northumberland  house ;  but  alas!  one  grand  mistake  had  been 
made :  in  the  hurry  of  business  no  application  had  been  made  to  the 
tailor  for  the  necessary  alterations  of  his  clothes;  however,  great  minds 
are  not  cast  down  with  ordinary  occurrences;  Mr.  Wynne  dressed  him- 
self in  Dr.  Percy's  friendly  suit,  together  with  a  borrowed  sword,  and  a 
hat  under  his  arm  of  great  antiquity;  then  taking  leave  of  his  trembling 
wife,  he  set  out  for  the  great  house.  True  to  the  moment,  he  arrived — 
Dr.  Percy  attended — and  the  duke  was  ready  to  receive  our  poet,  whose 
figure  at  this  time  presented  the  appearance  of  a  suit  of  sables  hung  on 
a  hedge  stake,  or  one  of  those  bodiless  forms  we  see  swinging  on  a 
dyer's  pole.  On  his  introduction,  Mr.  Wynne  began  his  formal  address; 
and  the  noble  duke  was  so  tickled  at  the  singularity  of  the  poet's  appear- 
ance, that,  in  spite  of  his  gravity,  he  burst  the  bonds  of  good  manners; 
and  at  length,  agitated  by  an  endeavor  to  restrain  risibility,  he  leaped 
from  his  chair,  ibrced  a  purse  of  thirty  guineas  into  Mr.  Wynne's  hand, 
and  hurrying  out  of  the  room,  told  the  poet  he  was  welcome  to  make 
what  use  he  pleased  of  his  name  and  patronage. 


The  following  is  the  order  of  longevity  that  is  exhibited  in  the  various 
lists,  and  the  average  duration  of  lile  of  the  most  eminent  men,  in  each 
pursuit.. 

Aggregate  years.     Average  years. 

Natural  Philosophers, 1504  75 

Moral  philosophers, 1417  70 

Sculptors  and  Painters,  1412  70 

Authors  on  Law  and  Jurisprudence,     1394  69 

Medical  authors,   1368  68 

Authors  on  Revealed  Religion, 1350  67 

Philologists,  1323  66 

31usical  Composers, 1284  64 

Novelists  and  Miscellaneous  Authors,    1257  62£ 

Dramatists, 1249  62 

Authors  on  Natural  Religion, 1245  62 

Poets, 1144  57 


ELBRIDGE   GERRY. 


75 


/$rr~L<c£y&  j^^7^ 


^ 


NFADING  are  the  laurels  of  such  men  as 
i  Elbridge  Gerry.  He  was  born  at  Marble- 
*$&r\  head,  Massachusetts,  July  17,  1744.  From 
£_j  his  father,  a  wealthy  merchant,  he  received  a 
mk  liberal  education,  after  which  he  amassed  a 
v^  considerable  fortune  by  commercial  pursuits. 
Fearless  in  the  expression  of  his  sentiments  against 
the  oppression  of  the  mother  country,  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  general  court  of  the  province  in 
1773.  He  soon  became  a  bold  and  energetic  leader, 
and  was  active  in  all  the  leading  political  move- 
ments, until  the  war  broke  out.  At  the  time  of  the 
battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  he  was  a  member  of  the  pro- 
vincial congress,  and  the  night  previous  to  the  battle 
he  and  General  Warren  slept  together  in  the  same 
bed.  In  the  morning  they  bade  each  other  an  af- 
fectionate farewell.  They  parted  to  meet  no  more 
on  earth,  for  Warren  was  slain  on  the  battle  field. 

In  January,  1776,  Mr.  Gerry  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  continental  congress,  when  he  signed  his 
name  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence.     After 


76  ELBRIDGE   GERRY. 

serving  in  many  important  capacities,  among  which 
was  that  of  governor  of  his  native  state,  in  1811  he 
was  elected  vice-president  of  the  United  States. 
But  before  the  expiration  of  his  term,  while  at  the 
seat  of  government,  he  died  suddenly,  Nov.  23, 
1814,  aged  seventy  years. 


Mrs.  Ann  Gerry. — Died  at  New  Haven,  on  the  17th  of  March,  1849, 
Mrs.  Ann  Gerry,  aged  86,  relict  of  vice-president  Elbridge  Gerry,  and 
daughter  of  the  venerable  Charles  Thompson,  the  secretary  of  the  revo- 
lutionary congress.  She  was  one  of  the  most  elegant  and  accomplished 
ladies  of  her  day.  Trained  up  amidst  the  scenes  of  the  revolution,  she 
possessed  all  the  energy  and  firmness  of  those  times.  During  her  hus- 
band's absence  as  ambassador  to  France,  her  house  was  entered  by  a 
burglar,  when,  animated  with  a  true  courage,  she  seized  a  pistol  and 
encountered  him;  he  fled  before  her,  jumped  from  a  window,  broke  his 
leg,  and  was  taken.  Her  husband  died  poor;  and  to  provide  for  this 
relict  of  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  vice-president, 
her  son  was  appointed  surveyor  of  the  port  of  Boston.  A  brother,  in 
the  service  of  the  East  India  Company,  left  her  a  handsome  fortune. 
Colonel  J.  T.  Austin,  the  late  accomplished  attorney-general,  of  Massa- 
chusetts married  her  eldest  daughter. — Salem  Register. 


The  origin  of  the  names  of  Whig  and  Tory  is  ob- 
scure. It  was  in  1774  that  the  American  loyalists 
were  designated  as  Tories,  while  the  name  of  "Whig 
was  assumed  by  the  patriots.  According  to  Bishop 
Burnett,  the  term  Whig  has  the  following  deriva- 
tion : 

"  The  people  of  the  southwestern  parts  of  Scotland,  not  raising  suf- 
ficient grain  to  last  them  through  the  winter,  generally  went  to  Leith  to 
purchase  the  superabundance  of  the  North.  From  the  word  JThiggam, 
which  they  used  in  driving  their  horses,  they  were  called  Jf'higamores, 
and,  abbreviated,  Whigs.  On  one  of  these  occasions,  news  having  reached 
Leith  of  the  defeat  of  Duke  Hamilton,  the  ministers  invited  the  Whig- 
gamores  to  march  against  Edinburgh,  and  they  went  at  their  bead, 
preaching,  and  praying  all  the  way.  The  Martinis  of  Argyle,  with  a 
force,  opposed  and  dispersed  them.  This  was  called  the  Whigamore 
inroad,  and  ever  after  that,  all  that  opposed  the  court,  came  in  contempt 
to  be  called  Whigs.  The  English  adopted  the  name.  The  origin  of  the 
word  Tory  is  not  clear.  It  was  first  used  in  Ireland  in  the  time  of 
Charles  II.  Sir  Richard  Phillips  defines  the  two  parties  thus:  "Those 
are  Whigs  who  would  curb  the  power  of  the  crown;  those  are  Tories 
who  would  curb  the  power  of  the  people." 


BUTTON   GWINNETT.  77 


/    ' 

rLOUDED  as  is  the  memory  of  this  man  by 
his  untimely  end,  his  name  as  a  true  patriot 
deserves  to  be  handed  down  to  posterity. 
Button  Gwinnett  was  a  native  of  England. 
He  was  born  in  1732,  and  emigrated  to  America 
in  L770.  After  spending  two  years  in  Charles- 
ton, in  the  mercantile  business,  he  sold  out  his  stock 
and  removed  to  Georgia,  where  he  purchased  a 
large  estate  on  St.  Catharine's  Island.  In  1775  he 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  patriots,  and  was  elected 
to  the  continental  congress.  Reelected  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  he  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence. Leaving  congress  in  1777,  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  convention  of  South  Carolina  to  form 
a  constitution.  After  the  adjournment  of  the  con- 
vention, Mr.  Gwinnett  was  elected  president  of  the 
council,  and  many  other  civil  honors  were  bestowed 
upon  him. 

While  in  congress  he  had  offered  himself  as  a 


78  BUTTON   GWINNETT. 

candidate  for  the  office  of  brigadier-general.  His 
competitor  was  Colonel  Mcintosh.  The  latter  re- 
ceiving the  appointment,  Mr.  Gwinnett  looked  upon 
his  rival  as  a  personal  enemy.  This  resulted  in  a 
challenge  to  Col.  Mcintosh,  which  was  accepted. 
Their  weapons  were  pistols,  and  at  the  first  fire  both 
were  wounded;  that  of  Mr.  Gwinnett  was  mortal, 
and  he  died,  aged  forty-five.  He  left  a  wife  and 
several  children,  but  they  soon  followed  him  to  the 
grave. 


"Nothing,  says  a  late  writer,  is  more  deeply  rooted  in  modern  man- 
ners, than  the  practice  of  dueling.  In  vain  Christianity,  which  requires 
us  to  love  our  neighbor  as  ourself,  lifts  her  voice  against  the  barbarous 
custom  of  shedding  man's  blood,  for  the  slightest  offence;  in  vain  legisla- 
tors have  enacted  the  severest  laws  against  dueling.  Hitherto,  neither 
religion  nor  law  have  been  able  to  root  it  up.  It  exists  among  us  as  in 
the  dark  ages,  with  only  this  difference — very  considerable  it  is  true — 
that  these  combats  are  not  prescribed  by  law,  to  end  judicial  controver- 
sies. 

How,  then,  came  the  custom  of  dueling  in  Europe,  and  to  be  so 
deeply  rooted  ?  We  do  not  read  in  history  that  Themistocles,  Aristides, 
Epaminondas,  or  Phocion,  went  into  the  field  sword  in  hand,  to  adjust 
their  private  quarrels.  When  Marius  insulted  Sylla,  or  when  Pompey 
offended  Cresar,  they  did  not  challenge  one  another,  like  gladiators,  to 
decide  which  would  be  the  most  adroit  in  giving  a  blow  with  the  sword 
to  his  adversary.  These  great  men,  though  they  were  raised  in  the 
darkness  of  paganism,  would  have  regarded  such  private  combats  as  a 
sin  and  a  shame.  It  would  even  seem,  in  spite  of  the  common  opinion, 
that  the  ancient  nations  of  Germany  did  not  practice  dueling — at  least, 
not  frequently; — for  Tacitus,  who  is  so  exact,  makes  no  mention  of  it  in 
his  book  On  the  Manners  of  the  Germans.  The  first  positive  traces  of  this 
custom  are  found  among  the  Burgundians,  alter  they  had  invaded  the 
Gauls.  Regarding  military  courage  as  the  first  of  all  virtues,  these  bar- 
barians believe  that  the  bravest  man  had  necessarily  right  on  his  side. 
It  must  also  be  confessed,  that  the  church  itself,  unfaithful  to  the  first 
principles  of  the  gospel,  consecrated  for  a  long  time  this  sad  custom,  and 
contributed  to  introduce  it  into  the  courts,  under  the  name  of  the  judg- 
ment of  God. 

The  priests  and  the  doctors  of  this  period  reasoned  very  singularly. 
'God  governs  the  world,'  said  they;  'but  he  must  protect  the  innocent 
against  the  guilty;  therefore,  in  a  duel,  he  will  certainly  give  the  victory 
to  him  who  is  unjustly  accused.'  The  premises  of  this  argument  are 
just;  hut  the  conclusion  is  false.  Undoubtedly,  God  governs  the  world, 
and  is  the  protector  of  innocence;  but  does  it  follow  that  he  must  inter- 
pose directly  in  every  matter,  in  every  dispute,  to  show  on  which  side 
are  right,  truth  and  equity?  This  would  be,  to  suppose  that  God  would 
work  a  miracle,  every  time  man  should  be  pleased  to  ask  it;  it  would 
be  to  fall  into  the  sin  which  the  Scripture  denominates  tempting  God. 
So,  when  Pope  Gregory  VII.,  in  his  great  contest  with  the  Emperor  of 


BUTTON   GWINNETT.  79 

Germany,  said:  '  To  prove  that  right  is  on  my  side,  I  take  this  conse- 
crated wafer,  and  I  ask  God  to  strike  me  dead  the  moment  I  open  my 
mouth  to  eat  it,  if  I  am  in  the  wrong.'  Gregory  VII.  uttered  an  absurdity 
and  a  blasphemy,  analagous  to  him  who  introduced  the  custom  oi*  duel- 
ing, to  decide  quarrels;  he  falsely  supposed  that  the  Lord  would  be 
obliged  to  work  a  miracle,  when  it  suited  a  poor  human  being  to  ask  it; 
this  pope  tempted  God. 

The  custom  of  dueling  was  preserved  for  several  ages,  in  the  courts 
to  the  disgrace  of  the  human  mind;  the  priests  themselves  fought,  or 
appointed  champions  to  fight  for  them.  Among  many  curious  facts,  the 
following  rest  upon  the  most  solid  testimony.  At  the  end  of  the  eleventh 
century,  a*  dispute  having  arisen  in  Spain,  to  know  if  the  Gothic  liturgy 
should  continue  to  be  used,  or  if  the  Roman  liturgy  should  be  substituted 
for  it,  the  priests  appointed  two  knights  to  decide  the  question  by  the 
sword,  and  the  champion  of  the  Roman  breviary  was  vanquished.  So 
then,  by  skill  in  fencing,  and  by  blood,  it  must  be  decided  in  which  of 
two  ways  to  serve  the  God  of  peace.  Could  there  be  greater  extravagance 
and  sacrilege  ?" 


The  first  duel  in  New  England  was  fought  on  the  18th  of  June,  1G21, 
on  a  challenge  at  single  combat,  with  sword  and  dagger,  between  two 
servants;  both  of  whom  were  wounded.  For  this  outrage  they  were 
sentenced  by  the  whole  company  to  the  ignominious  punishment  of 
having  the  head  and  feet  tied  together,  and  of  lying  thus  twenty-four 
hours  without  meat  or  drink.  Alter  suffering  however,  in  that  painful 
posture  one.  at  their  master's  interference,  and  their  own  humble  request, 
with  the  promise  of  amendment,  they  were  released  by  the  governor. 


A  clergyman  in  a  letter  to  the  New  York  Observer 
says : 

"  A  few  years  ago  a  duel  was  fought  near  the  city  of  Washington, 
under  circumstances  of  peculiar  atrocity.  A  distinguished  individual 
challenged  his  relative,  once  his  friend.  The  challenged  party  having 
the  choice  of  weapons,  named  muskets,  to  be  loaded  with  buck  shot  and 
slugs,  and  the  distance  ten  paces;  avowing  at  the  same  time  his  inten- 
tion and  desire  that  both  parties  should  be  destroyed.  The  challenger 
was  killed  on  the  spot,  the  murderer  escaped  unhurt !  Years  afterwards, 
an  acquaintance  of  mine  was  spending  the  winter  in  Charleston,  S.  C, 
and  lodged  at  the  same  house  with  this  unhappy  man.  He  was  requested 
by  the  duelist  one  evening,  to  sleep  in  the  same  room  with  him,  but  he 
declined  as  he  was  very  well  accommodated  in  his  own.  On  his  per- 
sisting in  declining  the  duelist  confessed  to  him  that  he  was  afraid  to 
sleep  alone,  and  as  a  friend  who  usually  occupied  the  room  was  absent, 
he  would  esteem  it  a  great  favor  if  the  gentleman  would  pass  the  night 
with  him.  His  kindness  being  thus  demanded,  he  consented,  and  re- 
tired to  rest  in  the  room  with  this  man  of  fashion  and  honor,  who  some 
years  hefore  had  stained  his  hands  with  the  blood  of  a  kinsman.  After 
long  tossing  on  his  unquiet  pillow,  and  repeated  deep,  half-stifled  groans 
that  revealed  the  inward  pangs  of  the  murderer,  he  sank  into  slumber, 
and  as  he  rolled  from  side  to  side  the  name  of  his  victim  was  often 
uttered,  with  broken  words  that  discovered  the  keen  remorse  that  preyed 
like  fire  on  his  conscience.  Suddenly  he  would  start  up  in  his  bed  with 
the  terrible  impression  that  the  avenger  of  blood  was  pursuing  him;  or 


80  BUTTON    GWINNETT. 

hide  himself  under  the  covering  as  if  he  would  escape  the  burning  eye 
of  an  angry  God,  that  gleamed  in  the  darkness  over  him,  like  lightning 
from  the  thunder  cloud!  For  him  there  was  "  no  rest,  day  nor  night." 
Conscience,  armed  with  terrors,  lashed  him  unceasingly,  and  who  could 
sleep  ?  And  this  was  not  the  restlessness  of  disease ;  the  raving  of  a  dis- 
ordered intellect,  nor  the  anguish  of  a  maniac  struggling  in  his  chains! 
It  was  a  man  of  intelligence,  education,  health  and  affluence,  given  up 
to  himself— not  delivered  over  to  the  avenger  of  blood  to  be  tormented 
before  his  time— but  left  to  the  power  of  his  own  conscience— suffering 
only,  what  every  one  may  suffer  who  is  abandoned  of  God ! 

T  have  this  narrative  from  the  lips  of  the  man  who  saw  and  heard 
what  is  here  related,  and  therefore  I  repeat  it  with  entire  confidence  in 
its  truth.  These  details  of  mental  and  moral  suffering  are  recited,  not 
to  enlist  the  sympathy  and  harrow  the  tender  sensibilities  of  the  human 
heart,  but  to  "illustrate  this  simple  thought;  if  here,  in  this  imperfect 
state  of  being,  with  limited  capacities  for  misery,  with  half-developed 
sensibilities,  poor  human  nature  may  thus  suffer,  what  may  not  the  im- 
mortal mind  endure  when  the  clay  casement  shall  fall  off,  and  the  naked 
spirit  lies  under  the  wrath  of  Omnipotence;  every  faculty  of  that  spirit  a 
living  nerve,  and  every  breath  a  flame  of  fire! 


How  often  in  human  life  is  it  to  be  wished  that  Ave  could  recall  the 
past.  "  What  deeds,  done  amiss,  would  then  be  rectified!  What  mis- 
takes in  thought,  in  conduct,  in  language,  would  then  be  corrected  !  What 
evils  for  the  future  avoided!  What  false  steps  would  be  turned  back! 
What  moral  bonds,  shackling  our  whole  being,  would  not  then  be  broken ! 
If  any  man  would  take  any  hour  out  of  any  period  of  his  life,  and  look  at 
it  with  a  calm,  impartial,  "unprejudiced  eye,  he  would  feel  a  longing  to 
turn  back  and  change  something  therein;  he  would  wish  to  say  more 
than  he  had  said — or  less— to  say  it  in  a  different  tone — with  a  different 
look— or  he  would  have  acted  differently — he  would  have  yielded — 
or  resisted— or  listened— or  refused  to  listen— he  would  wish  to  have 
exerted  himself  energetically— or  to  have  remained  passive— or  to 
have  meditated  ere  he  acted— or  considered  something  he  had  forgot- 
ten  or  attended  to  the  small,   still  voice  in  his   heart,  when   he   had 

shut  his  ears.  Something,  something,  he  would  have  altered  in  the 
past!  But,  alas!  the  past  is  the  only  reality  of  life,  unchangeable,  irre- 
trievable, indestructible ;  we  can  neither  mold  it,  nor  recall  it,  nor  wipe 
it  out.  There  it  stands  forever;  the  rock  of  adamant,  up  whose  steep 
side  we  can  hew  no  backward  path." 

He  is  unwise  and  unhappy  who  never  forgets  the  injuries  he  may  have 
received.  They  come  across  the  heart  like  dark  shadows,  when  the 
sunshine  of  happiness  would  bless  him,  and  throw  him  into  a  tumult  that 
does  not  easily  subside.  The  demon  of  hate  reigns  in  his  bosom  and 
makes  him,  of  all  accountable  creatures  the  most  miserable. 

Have  you  been  injured  in  purse  or  character?  Let  the  smiling  angel 
of  forgiveness  find  repose  in  your  bosom.  Study  not  how  you  may  re- 
venge but  return  good  for  evil. 

The  sandal-tree  perfumes,  when  riven, 

The  axe  that  laid  it  low ; 
Let  man  who  hopes  to  be  forgiven, 

Forgive  and  bless  his  foe. 


LYMAN    HALL. 


81 


ALE  College,  has  perhaps  sent  forth  more 
truly  great  men  than  any  similar  institution 
in  the  world.  Born  in  Connecticut  in  1721, 
Mr.  Hall  graduated  at  that  college,  and  afterwards 
&Q  studied  medicine.  In  1752  he  married  and  com- 
^menced  practice  in  Dorchester,  South  Carolina. 
He  afterwards  moved  to  Medway,  in  Georgia.  In 
1775,  he  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  general  con- 
gress. He  was  also  one  of  the  five  delegates  from 
Georgia,  in  1776,  and  with  them  signed  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence.  He  served  in  congress  for 
several  years  afterwards.  In  1780,  the  invasion  of 
Georgia  by  the  British,  called  him  home.  He  ar- 
rived in  time  to  preserve  his  family,  but  his  property 
was  left  a  sacrifice.  In  1782  he  returned,  and  on 
the  following  year  was  elected  governor  of  the  state. 
He  died  universally  beloved,  in  1784,  in  the  sixty- 
third  year  of  his  age. 
11 


82 


JOHN    HANCOCK. 


N  the  constellation  of  military  heroes  he 
was  a  star  of  the  first  magnitude.  A  native 
of  Quincy,  in  Massachusetts,  he  was  born 
in  1737.  His  father  and  grandfather  were 
both  faithful  ministers  of  the  gospel,  friends 
of  the  poor  and  patrons  of  learning.  Deprived 
by  death  of  an  inestimable  mother,  when  quite  an 
infant,  he  was  left  to  the  care  of  a  paternal  uncle, 
a  rich  merchant  of  Boston,  who  had  accumulated  a 
large  fortune.  By  this  relative  John  was  treated 
with  great  kindness.  Having  graduated  at  Havard 
College,  at  the  age  of  seventeen  he  was  taken  by  his 
uncle  into  his  counting  room  as  clerk.  So  satisfied 
was  the  latter  of  the  abilities  of  his  nephew,  that  he 
sent  him  on  business  matters  to  England,  where  he 
witnessed  the  funeral  obsequies  of  George  the 
Second,  and  the  coronation  of  George  the  Third. 
Shortly  after  his  return,  his  uncle  died,  leaving  him 
at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  one  of  the  largest  fortunes 


JOHN   HANCOCK.  83 

in  Massachusetts.  Relinquishing  commercial  pur- 
suits, and  becoming-  an  active  politician  on  the 
democratic  side,  he  was  soon  appreciated  by  the 
people.  Having  held  other  offices,  in  1776  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  general  provincial  assem- 
bly. Here  he  became  a  popular  leader,  and  as  such 
drew  upon  himself  the  direst  wrath  of  royalty. 

At  the  time  of  the  Boston  massacre,  and  during 
the  tea  not,  he  was  very  active;  and  on  the  anni- 
versary of  the  massacre  in  1774,  he  delivered  an 
oration,  in  which  he  boldly  denounced  the  acts  of 
the  royal  government.  After  serving  in  the  execu- 
tive council,  in  1774,  Mr.  Hancock  was  unanimously 
elected  president  of  the  provincial  congress.  During 
the  same  year  he  was  elected  to  the  continental 
congress,  to  which  station  he  was  reelected  in  1775. 
On  the  retirement  of  Peyton  Randolph  from  the 
presidential  chair  of  that  body,  John  Hancock  was 
elevated  to  that  station.  He  filled  the  chair  on  the 
ever  memorable  4th  of  July,  1776,  and  as  presi- 
dent, he  first  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence. 

Owing  to  ill-health,  in  1777,  he  resigned  the  presi- 
dency of  congress.  He  was  subsequently  elected 
governor  of  Massachusetts,  which  office,  by  annual 
election,  he  held  for  five  successive  years.  The  two 
following  years  he  declined  the  honor,  but  again 
accepting  it,  he  held  the  office  until  his  death. 

In  1773,  he  married  Miss  Quincy,  by  whom  he 
had  one  son,  who  died  young. 

Mr.  Hancock  was  a  man  of  great  natural  talent, 
and  peculiarly  fitted  for  the  extraordinary  times  in 
which  he  lived.  His  memory  as  a  benefactor  to  his 
country  will  be  ever  green.  He  died  October  8th, 
1793,  aged  fifty-five. 


84  BENJAMIN   HARRISON. 


*0  e^x/    Z&cv^y^ffjy*^* 

As  the  hoary  hills  eternal, 

As  the  rock  of  aces  strong, 
Noiseless  through  Time's  ceaseless  changes, 

Beating  back  the  waves  of  wrong — 
Though  the  elements  conspire, 

Wage  a  wild  and  fearful  strife 
Fro?n  the  mighty  shock  recoiling, 

With  renewed  and  stronger  life. 
Thus  with  Freedom — standing  ever 

By  the  wayside  of  the  truth, 
With  the  birth  of  time  coeval, 

Yet  in  all  the  bloom  of  youth — 
Mocking  every  feint  to  crush  it, 

Of  the  puny  arm  of  man, 
With  the  myrmidons  of  power 

Clustered  in  the  tyrants  span. 

ONDON  is  said  to  have  been  the  native  place 
of  the  ancestors  of  this  patriot.     They  emi- 
grated to  America  in  1640,  and  settled  at 
Berkley,   Virginia,   where   the   subject  of    this 
sketch  was  born. 

Benjamin,  at  a  very  early  age,  became  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Virginia  house  of  burgesses,  where  he  was 
soon  elected  speaker.     He  was  one  of  the  first  seven 


BENJAMIN   HARRISON.  85 

delegates  from  Virginia  to  the  continenal  congress 
in  1774.  He  was  reelected  in  1775,  and  took  an 
active  part  in  many  important  measures.  He  was 
warmly  in  favor  of  independence,  and  when  that 
great  question  was  discussed  in  convention  of  the 
whole,  he  was  in  the  chair.  On  the  4th  of  July  he 
voted  for  the  Declaration,  and  signed  the  document 
on  the  second  of  August  following.  He  afterwards 
held  the  office  of  speaker  in  the  house  of  burgesses 
until  1782,  without  interruption.  He  was  then 
elected  governor  of  Virginia,  in  which  office  he 
served  during  two  successive  terms.  In  1791,  after 
the  election,  he  invited  a  party  of  his  friends  to  dine 
with  him.  That  night,  however,  he  experienced  a 
relapse  of  his  complaint,  the  gout  in  the  stomach, 
and  the  next  day  he  expired. 

He  was  married  in  early  life  to  Miss  Elizabeth 
Bassett.  They  had  a  numerous  family  of  children, 
but  only  seven  lived  to  a  mature  age.  One  of  these 
was  William  Henry  Harrison,  late  president  of  the 
United  States. 

When  Benjamin  was  quite  young,  his  venerable 
father  and  two  of  his  daughters  were  instantly  struck 
dead  by  lightning  in  their  mansion  house  at  Berkley. 


Pending  the  political  agitation  relative  to  the  stamp  act,  the  royal  go- 
vernor wished  to  conciliate  Mr.  Harrison  by  the  offer  of  a  seat  in  the 
council.     This  was,  however,  promptly  rejected. 

Mr.  Wirt,  referring  to  the  introduction  of  Patrick  Henry's  resolution 
respecting  the  stamp  act,  says : 

"  It  was  in  the  midst  of  the  magnificent  debate  on  those  resolutions, 
while  he  was  descanting  on  the  tyranny  of  the  obnoxious  act,  that  he 
exclaimed,  in  a  voice  of  thunder,  and  with  the  look  of  a  god:  'Caesar 
had  his  Brutus,  Charles  the  First  his  Cromwell,  and  George  the  Third ' 
— '  Treason !'  cried  the  speaker — '  treason,  treason,'  echoed  from  every 
part  of  the  house.  It  was  one  of  those  trying  moments  which  are  deci- 
sive of  character.  Henry  faltered  not  for  an  instant ;  but  rising  to  a  loftier 
attitude,  and  fixing  on  the  speaker  an  eye  of  the  most  determined  fire,  he 
finished  the  sentence  with  the  firmest  emphasis — '  and  George  the  Third 
— may  profit  by  their  example.    If  that  be  treason,  make  the  most  of  it.' " 


86 


JOHN   HART. 


H|||f  EVER  lived  a  more  sterling  patriot  than  John 
rPli  ^ar^'  formerly  called  the  New  Jersey 
Tapf^l  Farmer.  Edward  Hart,  his  father,  was  also 
a  farmer,  and  had  distinguished  himself  under 
Wolfe  at  Quebec.  It  is  supposed  that  John 
v  was  born  about  the  year  1714. 
During  the  stamp  act  excitement,  John,  although 
living  in  a  remote  agricultural  district,  united  with 
others  in  electing  delegates  to  the  colonial  congress 
that  convened  in  New  York  city  in  1765.  In  1774, 
he  was  elected  to  the  first  continental  congress. 
On  the  following  year  he  was  reelected,  but  owing 
to  the  pressure  of  his  private  affairs,  he  resigned. 
In  1776,  he  was  again  elected  to  the  general  con- 
gress, when  he  added  his  name  to  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  As  he  clearly  foresaw,  nothing  could 
have  been  more  inimical  to  his  private  interest  than 
this  act.  His  estate  was  exposed  to  the  fury  of 
the  enemy,  and  he  himself  was  hunted  from  place 
to  place  like  a  wild  beast.  This  appalling  state 
of  things  to  himself  and  family,  was  not  ended  until 
the  success  of  Washington  at  the  battle  of  Trenton. 
Mr.  Hart  died  in  1780,  a  martyr  to  his  patriotism. 


THOMAS    HAYWARD,    JUN. 


87 


y 


kS    <£>!     &f 


#^8||||  ON  of  Colonel  James  Hayward,  one  of  the 
jpi^^s  wealthiest  planters  in  the  province,  was 
|P^|g|)  horn  in  St.  Luke's  parish,  South  Carolina. 
^  After  the  prepararory  studies,  Thomas  was  sent 
£p  to  England  to  complete  his  legal  education.  On 
^  his  return,  he  commenced  the  practice  of  his 
profession,  and  married  a  Miss  Matthews.  Among 
the  earliest  of  those  in  South  Carolina,  who  resisted 
the  oppression  of  the  home  government,  in  1775,  he 
was  elected  to  the  general  congress.  Reelected  the 
next  year,  he  warmly  supported  Mr.  Lee's  motion 
for  emancipation  from  British  rule,  and  voted  for  and 
signed  the  Declaration.  He  remained  in  congress 
until  1778,  when  he  was  appointed  judge  of  the 
criminal  and  civil  court  of  South  Carolina.  He 
also  held  a  military  commission,  and  was  in  active 
service  in  the  skirmish  with  the  enemy  at  Beaufort, 
in  1780.  He  there  received  a  gun-shot  wound,  the 
mark  of  which  he  bore  for  life.  After  the  capture 
of  Charleston  by  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  Mr.  Hayward 
was  taken  prisoner,  and  sent  to  Augustine,  Florida, 


88  THOMAS   HAY  WARD,    JUN. 

where  he  remained  a  year.  While  there,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  loss  of  his  large  property,  he  sustained 
a  more  afflicting-  loss  by  the  death  of  his  amiable 
wife. 

After  his  return  to  South  Carolina,  he  was  elected 
to  the  convention  which  framed  the  constitution  of 
his  state.  Having  married  a  second  wife,  named 
Savage,  in  1799,  he  withdrew  from  public  life.  He 
died  March,  1809,  in  the  63d  year  of  his  age. 

During  his  travels  in  Europe,  Mr.  Hayward  saw 
all  the  trappings  of  royalty  and  its  minions,  but 
instead  of  being  dazzled  by  them,  he  viewed  them 
as  the  blood-stained  fruits  of  wrong  and  oppression. 

Could  he  have  looked  at  futurity  and  seen  the 
mighty  European  revolutions  of  the  present  day,  of 
which  that  in  his  own  time  was  the  sure  precursor, 
how  cheering  would  have  been  the  view. 


JOSEPH   HEWES.  89 


Jo*  cfvJ/^ 


g^ux^t 


^VER  green  will  be  the  memory  of  such 
sterling  patriots  as  Mr.  Hewes.  He  was 
born  at  Kingston,  New  Jersey,  in  17S0. 
He  was  educated  at  Princeton,  and  then 
^apprenticed  to  a  merchant  in  Philadelphia. 
)*  Commencing  business  on  his  own  account,  he 
soon  amassed  a  large  fortune.  In  1700,  he  returned 
to  North  Carolina,  and  settled  at  Edenton.  In  1 703, 
and  for  several  successive  years,  he  was  elected  to 
the  legislature  of  that  state.  In  1774,  he  was  a 
delegate  to  the  continental  congress,  and  was  placed 
upon  the  committee  appointed  to  draw  up  the 
Declaration  of  Rights.  He  was  reelected  to  con- 
gress in  1775  and  1770,  when  he  signed  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence.  He  died  at  Philadelphia, 
October  29th,  1779.  He  was  the  only  one  of  all  the 
signers  who  died  at  the  seat  of  government,  and  his 
remains  were  followed  to  the  grave  by  a  large  con- 
course of  citizens. 


12 


90  WILLIAM   HOOPER. 


CffT7V    Jffitf*^0^ 


'AS  born  in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  June 
17th,  1742.  In  1760  he  graduated  at  Har- 
"V!  vard  University  with  distinguished  honors. 
x^After  studying  law,  he  commenced  practice  in 
^,®  North  Carolina,  where  he  soon  rose  rapidly  in 
his  profession.  In  1773,  he  was  elected  to  the  pro- 
vincial assembly  of  North  Carolina.  Sympathizing 
with  the  oppressed,  he  soon  became  obnoxious  to 
the  royalists.  In  1774  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  first 
continental  congress.  He  was  again  elected  in  1775, 
and  also  in  1776,  when  he  voted  for  and  signed  the 
Declaration  of  Independence.  After  holding  other 
offices,  he  died  at  Hillsborough,  October,  1790,  aged 
forty-eight  years. 

The  winds  breathe  low — the  withering  leaf 

Scarce  whispers  from  the  tree ! 
So  gently  flows  the  parting  breath 

When  good  men  cease  to  be. 

How  beautiful  on  all  the  hills 

The  crimson  light  is  shed ! 
'Tis  like  the  peace  the  Christian  gives 

To  mourners  round  his  bed. 


STEPHEN   HOPKINS. 


91 


fr^tiijAi* 


14 


JjjSsj^ERY  few  men  ever  possessed  a  more  vigor- 
*  ¥&  ous  mte^ect  than  this  patriot.  He  was 
W^  born  at.  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  on  the 
!%s>7th  March,  1707,  and  his  mother  was  the 
daughter  of  one  of  the  first  Baptist  ministers  of 
that  place.  Having  but  few  advantages  of 
education,  he  became  self-taught  in  the  truest  sense 
of  the  word.  Being  engaged  as  a  farmer  until  1731, 
he  removed  to  Providence,  where  he  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  business.  In  1732  he  was  elected  to  the 
general  assembly,  and  was  annually  reelected  until 
1738.  Being  again  elected  in  1741,  he  was  chosen 
speaker  of  the  house  of  representatives.  During  the 
following  ten  years  he  was  almost  every  year  a 
member  and  speaker  of  the  assembly.  In  1751  he 
was  chosen  chief-justice  of  the  colony.  In  1754  he 
was  a  delegate  to  the  colonial  convention,  held  at 
Albany,  for  the  purpose  of  concerting  effectual 
measures  to  oppose  the  encroachment  of  French 
settlers.     In  1756  he  was  elected  governor  of  the 


92  STEPHEN    HOPKINS. 

colony,  in  which  office  he  continued  almost  the 
whole  time  until  1767. 

An  early  opposer  of  the  oppressive  acts  of  Great 
Britain,  the  patriots  conferred  upon  him  several 
offices  of  great  responsibility,  among  which  was 
that  of  delegate  to  the  continental  congress.  While 
a  member  of  the  assembly  of  Rhode  Island,  he  in- 
troduced a  bill  to  prohibit  the  importation  of  slaves, 
and  to  prove  his  sincerity  he  gave  freedom  to  all 
those  which  belonged  to  himself.  On  his  reelection 
to  the  general  congress,  in  1776,  he  had  the  privi- 
lege of  signing  the  glorious  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence. In  1778  he  was  reelected  to  the  general  con- 
gress for  the  last  time,  and  was  one  of  the  commit- 
tee who  drafted  the  articles  of  confederation  for  the 
government  of  the  states.  He  died  on  the  19th  of 
July,  1785,  aged  seventy-eight  years.  The  life  of 
Mr.  Hopkins,  says  Lossing,  exhibits  a  fine  example 
of  the  rewards  of  honest,  persevering  industry. 
Although  his  early  education  was  limited,  yet  he 
became  a  distinguished  mathematician,  and  filled 
almost  every  public  station  in  the  gift  of  the  people, 
with  singular  ability.  He  was  a  sincere  and  consist- 
ent Christian,  and  the  impress  of  his  profession  was 
upon  all  his  deeds. 

The  signature  of  Mr.  Hopkins  is  remarkable,  and  appears  as  if  written 
by  one  greatly  agitated  by  fear.  But  fear  was  no  part  of  Mr.  Hopkins' 
character.  The  cause  of  the  tremulous  appearance  of  his  signature,  was 
a  bodily  infirmity,  called  shaking  palsy,  with  which  he  had  been 
afflicted  many  years,  and  which  obliged  him  to  employ  an  amanuensis  to 
do  his  writing. 

He  was  twice  married;  the  first  time  to  Sarah  Scott,  a  member  of  the 
society  of  Friends,  (whose  meetings  Mr.  Hopkins  was  a  regular  attendant 
upon  "through  life,)  in  172(5;  she  died  in  1753.  In  1755  he  married  a 
widow,  named  Anna  Smith. 

He  rendered  great  assistance  to  other  scientific  men,  in  observing  the 
transit  of  Venus  which  occurred  in  June,  17G9.  He  was  one  or  the 
prime  movers  in  forming  a  public  library  in  Providence,  in  1750.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  American  philosophical  society,  and  was  the  pro- 
jector and  patron  of  the  free  schools  in  Providence. 


FRANCIS   HOPKINSON.  93 


-7^4% 


fesLAj<^s 


gyE  was   born   at   Philadelphia,   1737.     His 

parents  were  English.     His   mother  was 

93MSuJiik  the  daughter  of  the  Bishop  of  Worcester, 

J$  and  she  and  her  husband  moved  in  the  highest 

circles  in  their  native  country,  as  did  they  also 

in  Philadelphia. 
At  the  age  of  fourteen,  Francis  lost  his  father. 
After  graduating  at  the  college  of  Philadelphia,  he 
studied  law  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1765. 
After  a  visit  to  his  relatives  in  England,  in  1768,  he 
married  Miss  Ann  Borden  of  Bordentown,  New  Jer- 
sey. Soon  after  his  marriage,  he  was  appointed  to 
a  lucrative  office  in  New  Jersey,  which  he  held  until 
his  republican  principles  caused  the  anger  of  the 
minions  of  British  power.  In  1776,  heing  elected  a 
delegate  to  the  general  congress,  he  joyfully  affixed 
his  signature  to  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
He  subsequently  held  the  offices  of  loan  commis- 
sioner, and  admiralty  and  district  judgeship  of  Penn- 
sylvania. A  fit  of  appoplexy  terminated  his  life  in 
May,  1791,  in  the  fifty-third  year  of  his  age.  He 
was  a  poet  and  an  ardent  patriot. 


94  SAMUEL   HUNTINGTON. 


j\l^  MOST  remarkable  man,  was  born  at  Wind- 
\W  ham,  Connecticut,  July  2d,  17o2.  His 
<5^  father,  an  industrious  farmer,  was  not  able 

Ho  give  his  son  more  than  a  common  education. 

But  Samuel   being  very  studious,  surmounted 

every  obstacle,  and  acquired  a  tolerable  know- 
ledge of  Latin.  At  the  age  of  thirty-two,  with 
borrowed  books,  and  without  any  instruction,  he 
commenced  the  study  of  law.  He  was  admitted  to 
the  bar,  and  before  he  was  thirty  years  of  age,  had 
secured  a  good  practice  in  his  native  town.  In 
1760  he  removed  to  Norwich.  After  serving  in  the 
general  assembly,  and  as  a  member  of  the  council, 
in  L774  he  was  appointed  associate  judge  of  the 
supreme  court.  In  1775  he  was  appointed  a  dele- 
gate to  the  general  congress,  when  on  the  following 
year,  he  voted  for  and  signed  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  In  1786  he  was  elected  governor  of 
his  native  state,  which  office  he  held  until  his 
death,  which  took  place  at  Norwich,  January  5, 
1796,  in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  a 
sincere  Christian,  a  man  of  untiring  industry,  and 


SAMUEL   HUNTINGTON.  95 

was  remarkable  for  decision  of  character.     This  was 
the  grand  secret  of  his  success. 

"Who  are  the  great  men?  Who  have  been  the 
leaders,  the  reformers,  the  thinkers,  the  heroes  of 
mankind?  By  what  process  was  their  being  built 
up — the  Platos,  the  Ciceros,  the  Pauls,  the  Burkes, 
giants  of  their  kind  ?  Was  it  by  dreams  and  visions, 
by  sloth  and  self-indulgence?  Grew  up  Luther's 
noble  heart  in  ease  ?  Was  Wesley's  iron  fibre  the 
product  of  repose?  We  have  communed  with 
great  men  to  little  purpose  if  we  have  not  learned 
that,  however  else  they  may  have  differed,  in  one 
respect  they  were  all  alike.  Their  sinews  grew  by 
labor.  The  record  of  their  lives  is  but  a  register  of 
their  deeds.  Endowed,  by  nature,  it  may  have 
been,  with  high  powers,  they  did  not  surfer  them  to 
lie  rotting  in  indolence;  but  with  manful  heart 
and  strong  hand,  fulfilled  their  mission  of  labor  by 
day  and  by  night.     Their  works  do  follow  them." 

"As  a  house  without  inhabitants  will  soon  run  to 
waste,  and  the  richest  soil  without  cultivation  will 
be  covered  with  loathsome  weeds;  so  will  the  mind 
that  is  unoccupied  with  that  which  is  useful,  edify- 
ing, and  innocent,  become  deterioated  and  cor- 
rupted. There  is  a  rust  of  mind  as  well  as  of  metal, 
by  which  its  brightness  and  edge  are  dimmed  and 
destroyed ;  and  as  use  by  its  friction  is  necessary  to 
the  polish  and  keenness  of  the  one,  so  is  exercise  to 
that  of  the  other.  And  as  water  when  it  remains 
stagnated  will  become  impure  and  generate  mias- 
mata, so  the  faculties  of  the  mind,  by  the  stagnation 
of  the  intellect,  will  become  corrupted  and  perverted. 
Active  exercise  is  as  necessary  to  health  of  mind  as 
to  health  of  body." 


96 


THOMAS    JEFFERSON. 


ItHOMAS  Jefferson,  was  the  third  president 
"  of  the  United  States  of  America,  under  the 
constitution  of  1789.  He  passed  two  years 
at  the  college  of  William  and  Mary,  but  his 
education  was  principally  conducted  by  private 
tutors.  He  adopted  the  law  as  his  profession. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  legislature  of  Virginia  from 
1769,  to  the  commencement  of  the  American  revo- 
lution. In  1775,  he  was  a  delegate  in  congress 
from  Virginia.  May  15,  1776,  the  convention  of 
Virginia  instructed  their  delegates  to  propose  to 
congress  a  declaration  of  independence.  In  June 
Mr.  Lee  made  the  motion  for  such  a  declaration  in 
congress,  and  it  was  voted  that  a  committee  be 
appointed  to  prepare  one.  The  committee  was 
elected  by  ballot,  and  consisted  of  Thomas  Jefferson, 
John  Adams,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Roger  Sherman, 
and  Robert  R.  Livingston.  The  declaration  was 
exclusively  the  work  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  to  whom  the 
right  of  drafting  it  belonged  as  chairman  of  the 


THOMAS   JEFFERSON.  97 

committee,  though  amendments  and  alterations 
were  made  in  it,  by  Adams,  Franklin,  and  other 
members  of  the  committee,  and  afterwards  by  con- 
gress. Mr.  Jefferson  retired  from  congress  in  Sept. 
1776,  and  took  a  seat  in  the  legislature  of  Virginia 
in  October.  In  1779,  he  was  chosen  governor  of 
Virginia,  and  held  the  office  two  years.  He  de- 
clined a  foreign  appointment  in  1776,  and  again  in 
1781.  He  accepted  the  appointment  of  one  of  the 
commissioners  for  negotiating  peace,  but  before  he 
sailed,  news  was  received  of  the  signing  the  pro- 
visional treaty,  and  he  was  excused  from  proceed- 
ing on  the  mission.     He  returned  to  congress.     In 

1784,  he  wrote  notes  on  the  establishment  of  a 
money- unit,  and  of  a  coinage  for  the  United  States. 
He  proposed  the  money-system  now  in  use.  In 
May,  1784,  he  was  appointed,  with  Adams  and 
Franklin,  a  minister  plenipotentiary  to  negotiate 
treaties    of  commerce   with    foreign    nations.      In 

1785,  he  was  appointed  minister  to  the  French 
court.  In  1789,  he  returned  to  America,  and  re- 
ceived from  Washington  the  appointment  of  secre- 
tary of  state,  which  he  held  till  Dec.  1793,  and  then 
resigned.  On  some  appointment  being  offered  him 
by  Washington  in  Sept.  1794,  he  replied  to  the 
secretary,  "  no  circumstances  will  ever  more  tempt 
me  to  engage  in  anything  public."  Notwithstand- 
ing this  determination,  he  suffered  himself  to  be  a 
candidate  for  president,  and  was  chosen  vice-presi- 
dent in  1796.  At  the  election  in  1801,  he  and 
Aaron  Burr  having  an  equal  number  of  the  electoral 
votes,  the  house  of  representatives,  after  a  severe 
struggle,  finally  decided  in  his  favor.  He  was  re- 
elected in  1805.  At  the  end  of  his  second  term,  he 
retired  from  office.  He  died  July  4,  1826,  at  one 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  just  fifty  years  from  the 
date  of  the  declaration  of  independence,  aged  83. 
Preparations  had  been  made  throughout  the  United 
States  to  celebrate  this  day,  as  a  jubilee,  and  it  is  a 

13 


98  THOMAS   JEFFERSON. 

most  remarkable  fact,  that  on  the  same  day,  John 
Adams,  a  signer  with  Jefferson  of  the  Declaration, 
and  the  second  on  the  committee  for  drafting  it, 
and  his  immediate  predecessor  in  the  office  of  pre- 
sident, also  died. 


The  following  were  Jefferson's  ten  rules  to  be  observed  in  practical 
life. 

1.  Never  put  off  till  to-morrow  what  you  can  do  to  day. 

2.  Never  trouble  others  tor  what  you  can  do  yourself. 

3.  Never  spend  your  money  before  you  have  it. 

4.  Never  buy  what  you  do  not  want  because  it  is  cheap. 

5.  Pride  costs  us  more  than  hunger,  thirst,  and  cold. 

6.  We  never  repent  of  having  eaten  too  little. 

7.  Nothing  is  troublesome  that  we  do  willingly. 

8.  How  much  pains  have  those  evils  cost  us  which  never  happened. 

9.  Take  things  always  by  their  smooth  handle. 

10.  When  angry  count  ten  before  you  speak,  if  very  angry  a  hundred. 


"  Mr.  Dix,  in  searching  amongst  the  government  archives  recently, 
found  the  original  draft  of  the  ordinance  of  1784,  presented  to  congress, 
and  acted  upon  in  the  month  of  April  in  that  year.  The  committee  re- 
porting the  ordinance  consisted  of  Messrs.  Jefferson,  Howell,  of  It.  I., 
and  Chase,  of  Md.  The  ordinance  is  in  the  handwriting  of  Mr.  Jefferson, 
including  the  famous  clause  against  slavery  or  involuntary  servitude, 
which  was  struck  out  by  that  congress,  and  afterwards  incorporated  by 
Mr.  Dane,  in  his  draft  of  the  ordinance  of  1787,  and  adopted  by  congress. 
The  paper  is  deposited  in  the  state  department,  along  with  other  records 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  old  congress." — Albany  Atlas. 


RICHARD    HENRY    LEE. 


99 


c^o/v 


CLsi^C 


tNE  of  the  most  distinguished  patriots,  was 
born  in  the  county  of  Westmoreland,  Vir- 
ginia, on  the  20th  of  January,  1732.  Having 
^  iCceived  his  education  in  England,  he  returned 
0  to  Virginia  at  the  age  of  nineteen  and  applied 
himself  zealously  to  literary  pursuits.  His  first 
appearance  in  public  life  was  in  1755,  on  the  arrival 
of  Braddock  from  England,  who  summoned  the 
colonial  government  to  meet  him  in  council  previ- 
ous to  his  expedition  against  the  French  and  In- 
dians, upon  the  Ohio.  Lee  having  formed  a  mili- 
tary corps,  presented  himself  and  tendered  the  ser- 
vices of  himself  and  volunteers.  But  the  haughty 
Braddock  proudly  refused  to  accept  the  offer.  Lee, 
deeply  mortified  and  disgusted,  returned  home  with 
his  troops.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  house  of  burgesses  of  Virginia. 
During  the  stamp  act  excitement,  he  was  the  first 
man  in  Virginia  who  stood  publicly  forth  in  oppo- 


100  RICHARD   HENRY    LEE. 

sition  to  the  execution  of  that  measure.  In  1774 
Mr.  Lee  was  elected  to  the  general  congress,  where 
he  spoke  out  boldly  for  the  rights  of  the  colonists. 
In  1775  he  was  again  elected  to  the  general  con- 
gress. He  was  reelected  in  1776,  and  on  the  7th 
of  June  of  that  year,  he  introduced  the  celebrated 
resolution  for  a  total  separation  from  the  mother 
country.  This  resolution  being  made  the  order  of 
the  day  for  the  first  Monday  in  July,  a  committee, 
of  which  Thomas  Jefferson  was  chairman,  was  ap- 
pointed to  draw  up  a  Declaration  of  Independence. 
This  document  was  adopted  on  the  4th  of  July,  by 
the  unanimous  vote  of  the  thirteen  united  colonies. 
Mr.  Lee  continued  in  congress  until  1779,  when 
as  lieutenant  of  the  county  of  Westmoreland,  he 
took  the  command  of  the  militia  in  defence  of  his 
state  against  the  "red  coats."*  In  1783,  being 
again  elected  to  congress,  he  was  by  a  unanimous 
vote  elected  president  of  that  body.  On  the  adop- 
tion of  the  Federal  Constitution  he  was  chosen  the 
first  senator  from  Virginia  under  it.  Honored  and 
revered  by  a  grateful  people,  he  died  on  the  19th 
day  of  June,  1794,  in  the  sixty- fourth  year  of  his 
age.  He  was  a  practical  Christian,  and  in  all  the 
relations  of  life,  above  reproach. 

*Why  the  British  Soldier  is  Clothed  in  Red. — Red  was  always 
the  national  color  of  the  Northmen,  and  continues  still  in  Denmark  and 
England,  the  distinctive  color  of  their  military  dress.  It  was  so  of  the 
head  men  and  people  of  distinction  in  Norway  in  the  eleventh  century. 


FRANCIS    LIGHTFOOT    LEE. 


101 


^ 


Z^&-^y\^C't^ 


ROTHER  of  Richard  Henry  Lee,  was  born 
in  Westmoreland  county,  Virginia,  Octo- 
ber 14th,  1734.  In  1765  he  served  in  the 
Virginia  house  of  burgesses,  in  which  body 
jhe  continued  until  1772,  when  marrying  the 
daughter  of  Col.  John  Taylor,  of  Richmond,  he 
removed  to  that  city.  He  was  elected  at  once  a 
member  from  Richmond  to  the  house,  where  he 
served  until  1775,  when  he  was  sent  a  delegate  to 
the  continental  congress.  He  sympathized  with  his 
noble  brother  in  his  yearning  for  independence,  and 
with  great  joy  voted  for  and  signed  the  document 
which  declared  his  country  free. 

He  died  suddenly  in  April,  1797,  from  an  attack 
of  the  pleurisy,  in  the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age. 
His  wife  died  a  few  days  afterwards  with  the  same 
disease. 


102 


FRANCIS    LEWIS. 


Joa*  .^W 


"R.  LEWIS  was  born  at  LandarT  in  Wales, 
and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  arrived  at 
a  New  York  city,  where  he  formed  a  business 
SIS' partnership  in  the  mercantile  business.  He 
;fH\  afterwards  married  the  sister  of  Mr.  Annesley, 
*        his  partner,  by  whom  he  had  seven  children. 

At  the  capture  of  the  fort  at  Oswego,  in  1757,  Mr. 
Lewis  was  aid  to  Col.  Mercer.  The  latter  was  killed, 
and  Lewis  was  taken  with  other  prisoners  to  Canada. 
From  there  he  was  sent  to  France,  where  he  was 
finally  exchanged.  At  the  close  of  the  war,  the 
British  government  gave  him  five  thousand  acres 
of  land  for  his  services.  In  1765,  he  was  elected 
from  New  York  to  the  colonial  congress.  In 
1775  he  was  elected  to  the  general  congress.  On 
the  following  year  he  was  reelected  and  became 
one  of  the  signers  of  the  Declaration.  He  remained 
actively  employed  in  congress  until  1778.  So  pro- 
minent a  character  could  not  fail  of  being  an  object 


FRANCIS   LEWIS.  103 

of  the  bitter  resentment  of  the  Tories,  who  not  only 
destroyed  his  property  at  Long  Island,  but  brutally 
confined  his  wife  in  a  close  prison  for  several  months 
without  a  bed  or  change  of  raiment.  Owing  to  this  her 
health  was  ruined  and  she  died  in  less  than  two 
years  afterwards. 

Honored  and  revered  by  all,  Mr.  Lewis  died  De- 
cember 30,  1803,  aged  ninety  years.  He  was  a  real 
Christian.  With  what  truth  has  it  been  said,  that 
political  eminence  and  professional  feme  fade  away 
and  die  with  all  things  earthly.  Nothing  of  charac- 
ter is  really  permanent  but  virtue  and  personal 
worth.  They  remain.  Whatever  of  excellence  is 
wrought  into  the  soul  itself,  belongs  to  both  worlds. 
Real  goodness  does  not  attach  itself  merely  to  this 
life,  it  points  to  another  world.  Political  or  profes- 
sional fame  can  not  last  forever,  but  a  conscience 
void  of  offence  before  God  and  man,  is  an  inheritance 
for  eternity.  Religion,  therefore,  is  a  necessary,  an 
indispensable  element  in  any  great  human  charac- 
ter. There  is  no  living  without  it.  Religion  is  the 
tie  that  connects  man  with  his  Creator,  and  holds 
him  to  his  throne.  If  that  tie  be  ail  sundered,  all 
broken,  he  floats  away  a  worthless  atom  in  the  uni- 
verse, its  proper  attractions  all  gone,  its  destiny 
thwarted,  and  its  whole  future  nothing  but  dark- 
ness, desolation  and  death.  A  man  with  no  sense 
of  religious  duty  is  he  whom  the  scriptures  describe 
as  "  living  without  God  in  the  world."  Such  a  man 
is  out  of  his  proper  being,  out  of  the  circle  of  all 
his  duties,  out  of  the  circle  of  all  his  happiness,  and 
away,  far,  far  away,  from  the  purpose  of  his  Creator. 


104 


PHILIP    LIVINGSTON. 


Ji  ML  J^Prr^  a/wy^^y 


m  OREMOST  among  the  worthies  of  the  re- 
pp volution,  stands  the  name  of  this  excellent 
man.  He  was  descended  from  a  Scotch 
minister  of  the  gospel,  who  in  1663  emigrated 
JS"  to  Rotterdam.  His  son  Robert,  the  father  of 
Philip,  came  to  America,  and  under  the  patroon 
privileges,  obtained  a  grant  of  the  large  tract  of  land 
in  Columbia  county  on  the  Hudson,  ever  since 
known  as  Livingston's  Manor. 

Philip  was  born  at  Albany,  January  15,  1716. 
Having  graduated  with  honor  at  Yale  College  in 
1737,  he  engaged  in  an  extensive  mercantile  busi- 
ness in  the  city  of  New  York,  where  he  won  the 
profound  respect  of  the  whole  community.  From 
1754  to  1763,  he  held  the  office  of  alderman  in  that 
city.  Being  elected  to  the  general  assembly,  his 
superior  wisdom  and  sagacity  soon  made  him  a 
leader  in  that  body.  In  1774  Mr.  Livingston  was 
elected  to  the  first  continental  congress,  and  was 
one  of  the  committee  that  prepared  the  address  to 
the  British  people.     In  1775,  owing  to  the  demeanor 


PHILIP   LIVINGSTON.  105 

of  the  tories  in  the  assembly,  it  was  found  impossi- 
ble to  elect  delegates  to  the  second  congress.  Ac- 
cordingly eight  counties  of  New  York  sent  delegates 
to  a  provincial  convention,  which  body  elected  de- 
legates to  the  general  congress.  Among  them  were 
Philip  Livingston.  He  warmly  supported  the  pro- 
position for  independence,  and  voted  for  and  signed 
the  Declaration  thereof.  He  subsequently  served 
in  the  New  York  state  senate  which  met  September 
10,  1777. 

In  1778,  although  suffering  much  from  dropsy  in 
the  chest,  he  obeyed  the  calls  of  duty,  and  again 
took  his  seat  in  congress  to  which  he  had  been 
elected .  Having  a  strong  presentiment  that  he  should 
never  return  to  his  family,  on  his  departure  in  May, 
1778,  he  bade  them  and  his  friends  a  final  adieu. 
This  presentiment  became  a  reality,  for  on  the  12th 
June  following,  his  disease  proved  fatal.  He  was 
aged  sixty-two  years. 

The  strange  inborn  sense  of  coming  death, 

That  sometimes  whispers  to  the  haunted  breast 
In  a  low  sighing  tone  which  naught  can  still, 
'Mid  feasts  and  melodies  a  secret  guest; 
Whence  doth  that  murmur  come,  that  shadow  fall? 
"Why  shakes  the  sjiirit  thus  ?     'Tis  mystery  all ! 

Darkly  we  move — we  press  upon  the  brink 
Haply  of  unseen  worlds,  and  know  it  not! 
Yes!  it  may  be,  that  nearer  than  we  think 

Are  those  whom  death  hath  parted  from  our  lot. 
Fearfully,  wondrously,  our  souls  are  made: 
Let  us  walk  humbly  on,  yet  undismayed. 

Among  other  laudable  acts,  Mr.  Livingston  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  New  York  society  library, 
and  of  the  chamber  of  commerce.  He  also  aided 
materially  in  the  establishment  of  Columbia  col- 
lege.    A  more  useful  man  never  lived. 

14 


106 


ROBERT    R.    LIVINGSTON. 


SMfetfHANCELLOIl    Livingston,    says    Lossing, 
^•feSv  was  °^   nome  lineage — noble  not  only  by 
royal   patent,    but   in    high    and   virtuous 
"deeds. 

He  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  in  the 
year  1747.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  graduat- 
ed at  Columbia  college,  and  then  studied  law.  He 
was  soon  after  appointed  recorder  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  at  which  time  he  warmly  espoused  the  patriot 
cause. 

In  1775,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  conti- 
nental congress,  assembled  in  Philadelphia,  where 
his  activity  and  zeal  were  such  that  he  was  reelected 
for  1776.*  He  took  part  in  the  debates  which  oc- 
curred on  the  motion  of  Richard  Henry  Lee,  of  Vir- 
ginia, declaring  the  united  colonies  free  and  inde- 

*  Robert  R.  Livingston  was  not  one  of  those  who  signed  the  Declaration 
of  Independence,  yet  his  name  should  ever  he  inseparably  connected 
with  theirs,  for  lie*  was  one  of  the  committee  of  the  immortal  congress 
of  1776,  to  whom  was  intrusted  the  momentous  task  of  framing  that 
revered  document. 


ROBERT    R.    LIVINGSTON.  107 

pendent;  and  he  was  placed  upon  the  committee, 
which  congress  appointed  to  draw  np  a  Declaration 
of  Independence,  in  conformity  with  the  spirit  of 
the  revolution,  and  was  present  when  it  was  adopted. 
His  name  was  not  affixed  to  the  declaration,  but 
in  regard  to  the  reasons  why  his  signature  was  with- 
held, his  biographers  are  silent.  We  venture  the 
opinion  that  he  regarded  as  correct  the  doctrine, 
that  the  representative  is  bound  to  act  in  accordance 
with  the  expressed  will  of  his  constituents. 

When  after  the  adoption  of  the  Declaration, 
congress  recommended  the  several  states  to  form 
constitutions  for  their  governments  respective- 
ly, Mr.  Livingston  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
convention  of  New  York,  assembled  for  that  pur- 
pose. He  served  alternately  in  congress  and  in  the 
legislature  of  his  native  state  from  1775  till  1781, 
when  under  the  articles  of  confederation,  he  was 
appointed  secretary  for  foreign  affairs,  which  station 
he  filled,  with  great  industry  and  fidelity,  until  1783. 
On  retiring  from  the  office  he  received  the  thanks 
of  congress.  He  was  that  year  appointed  chancellor 
of  the  state  of  New  York,  and  was  the  first  who 
held  the  office  under  the  new  constitution  of  the  state. 

Mr.  Livingston  was  a  member  of  the  convention 
of  New  York  which  assembled  at  Poughkeepsie,  in 
1788,  to  take  into  consideration  the  newly  formed 
federal  constitution,  and  he  was  then  one  of  its 
warmest  advocates  in  procuring  its  ratification  by 
that  body. 

In  April,  1789,  Washington,  the  first  president  of 
the  United  States,  was  inaugurated  in  the  city  of 
New  York.  It  was  one  of  the  most  august  occa- 
sions the  world  has  ever  witnessed,  and  Chancellor 
Livingston  had  the  exalted  honor  of  administering 
the  oath  of  office  to  that  great  leader,  and  of  wit- 
nessing before  high  Heaven  his  solemn  pledge  to 
support  the  constitution. 

In  1801,  Chancellor  Livingston  was  appointed  by 


108  ROBERT   R.    LIVINGSTON. 

president  Jefferson,  minister  to  the  court  of  France, 
at  the  head  of  which  was  then  the  young  conqueror 
of  Italy,  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  first  consul  of  the 
French  Republic.  He  at  once  won  the  esteem  and 
confidence  of  that  great  captain,  and  successfully 
negotiated  with  his  ministers  for  the  purchase  of 
Louisiana,  then  in  possession  of  France. 

The  treaty  was  signed  in  April,  1«02,  by  Mr.  Liv- 
ingston and  Mr.  Monroe,  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  and  by  the  Count  de  Marbois  in  behalf  of 
France.  While  in  Europe,  Chancellor  Livingston 
indulged  and  cultivated  his  taste  for  literature  and 
the  fine  arts.  Science  too  claimed  his  attention, 
and  the  aid  and  encouragement  which  he  rendered 
to  Robert  Fulton,  form  an  imperishable  monument 
of  honor  to  his  memory. 

Agriculture  was  his  study  and  delight,  and  to  him 
the  farmers  of  this  country  are  indebted  for  the  in- 
troduction of  gypsum,  or  plaster,  for  manure,  and 
the  clover  grass. 

"  Chancellor  Livingston  continued  actively  en- 
gaged in  public  life  until  a  year  or  so  before  his 
death,  which  occurred  at  his  country  seat  at  Cler- 
mont, on  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  February,  1813, 
when  he  was  in  the  sixty-sixth  year  of  his  age.  He 
was  a  prominent  actor  in  scenes  which  present  fea- 
tures of  the  most  remarkable  kind,  as  influencing 
the  destinies  of  the  world.  His  pen,  like  his  ora- 
tory, was  chaste  and  classical;  and  the  latter,  be- 
cause of  its  purity  and  ease,  obtained  for  him  from 
the  lips  of  Dr.  Franklin,  the  title  of  the  Cicero  of 
America.  And  to  all  of  his  eminent  virtues  and 
attainments  he  added  that  of  a  sincere  and  devoted 
Christian,  the  crowning  attribute  in  the  character 
of  a  good  and  great  man." 

The  following  interesting  account  of  one  of  the 
ancestors  of  the  Livingston  family,  says  Grant 
Thorburn,  is  a  historical  fact.  It  occurred  within 
six   miles  of  my  birth-place.     I   have   heard   my 


ROBERT    R.    LIVINGSTON.  109 

grandfather,  who  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-six,  and 
my  father,  who  died  in  his  ninety-third  year,  each 
relate  it  as  an  undisputed  fact: 

LADY  JANE. 

The  Earl  of  Wigton,  whose  name  figures  in  the  Scottish  annals  during 
the  reign  of  Charles  II.,  had  three  daughters,  named  Lady  Frances,  Lady 
Grizel,  and  Lady  Jane;  the  latter  being  the  youngest  by  several  years, 
and  by  many  degrees  the  most  beautiful.  All  the  three"usually  resided 
with  their  mother,  at  the  family-seat  in  Sterlingsliire;  but  the  two  eldest 
were  occasionally  permitted  to* attend  their  father  in  Edinburgh,  in  order 
that  they  might  have  a  chance  of  ohtaining  lovers  at  the  court  held  there 
by  the  Duke  of  Lauderdale;  while  Lady  Jane  was  kept  constantly  at 
home,  and  debarred  from  the  society  of  the  capital,  lest  her  superior 
beauty  might  interfere  with  and  foil  the  attractions  of  her  sisters,  who, 
according  to  the  notions  of  that  age,  had  a  sort  of  right  of  primogeniture 
in  matrimony,  as  well  as  in  what  was  called  heirship.  It  may  easily  be 
imagined  that  Lady  Jane  spent  no  very  pleasant  life,  shut  up,  as  it  were, 
in  a  splendid  palace,  to  be  sure,  but  having  no  company  except  her  old 
cross  mother  and  the  servants,  the  palace  heing  in  a  remote  part  of  the 
country.  Besides,  she  was  so  very  beautiful  her  parents  were  afraid  that 
any  gentlemen  should  see  her,  and  so  take  the  shine  off  her  two  eldest 
sisters,  who  were  rather  homely-looking  articles,  and  older  by  eight  or 
ten  years.     Jane  was  now  in  her  seventeenth  year. 

At  the  period  when  our  history  opens,  Lady  Jane's  charms,  although 
never  seen  in  Edinburgh,  had  begun  to  make  some  noise  there.  A 
young  gentleman,  one  day  passing  the  garden,  espied  what  he  termed 
an  angel  picking  strawberries.  After  gazing  till  he  saw  her  retreat 
under  the  guns  of  her  father's  castle,  he  inquired  among  the  cottagers, 
and  learned  it  was  Jane,  the  youngest  daughter  of  Lord  Wigton.  He 
rode  on  and  reported  the  matter  in  the  capital.  The  young  gallants 
ahout  the  court  were  taken  by  surprise.  Lord  Wigton  and  his  two 
daughters  made  quite  a  swell  in  Edinburgh  at  this  time;  but  no  one  ever 
heard  of  Lord  Wigton  having  a  third  daughter.  These  reports  induced 
Lord  Wigton  to  confine  her  ladyship  even  more  strictly  than  heretofore, 
lest  perchance  some  gallant  might  make  a  pilgrimage  to  his  country-seat, 
in  order  to  steal  a  glimpse  of  his  beautiful  daughter;  he  even  sent  an 
express  to  his  wife,  directing  her  to  have  Jane  confined  to  the  precincts 
of  the  house  and  garden,  and  also  to  be  attended  by  a  trusty  female  ser- 
vant. The  consequence  was,  that  the  young  lady  complained  most 
piteously  to  her  mother  of  the  tedium  and  listlessness  of  her  life,  and 
wished  with  all  her  heart  that  she  was  as  ugly,  as  old,  and  happy  as  her 
sisters. 

Lord  Wigton  was  not  insensible  to  the  cruelty  of  his  policv,  however 
well  he  might  be  convinced  of  its  necessity.  He  loved  this  beautiful 
daughter  more  than  either  of  the  others,  and  it  was  only  in  obedience  to 
what  he  conceived  to  be  the  commands  of  duty  that  he  subjected  her  to 
this  restraint;  his  lordship  therefore  felt  anxious  to  alleviate,  in  some 
measure,  the  disagreement  of  her  solitary  confinement,  and  knowing  her 
to  be  fond  of  music,  he  sent  her  by  a  messenger  a  theorbo,  with  which 
he  thought  she  would  be  able  to  amuse  herself  in  a  way  very  much  to 
her  mind ;  not  considering  that,  as  she  could  not  play  upon  the  instru- 
ment, it  would  be  little  better  to  her  than  an  unmeaning  toy.  By  the 
return  of  the  messenger  she  sent  a  very  affectionate  letter  to  her  father, 


110  ROBERT    R.    LIVINGSTON. 

thanking  him  for  the  instrument,  but  reminding  him  of  the  oversight, 
and  begged  him  to  send  some  person  who  could  teacli  her  to  play  upon 
it. 

The  gentry  of  Scotland  at  that  period  were  in  the  habit  of  engaging 
private  teachers  in  their  families.  They  were  generally  young  men  of 
tolerable  education,  who  had  visited  the  continent.  A  few  days  after  the 
receipt  of  his  daughter's  letter,  it  so  happened  that  he  was  applied  to  by 
one  of  those  useful  personages,  wishing  employment.  He  was  a  tall, 
handsome  youth,  apparently  about  twenty-five  years  of  age.  After  seve- 
ral questions,  his  lordship  was  satisfied  that  he  was  just  the  person  he 
was  in  quest  of;  as,  in  addition  to  many  other  accomplishments,  he  was 
particularly  Avell  qualified  to  teach  the  theorbo,  and  had  no  objection  to 
enter  the  service,  with  the  proviso  that  he  was  to  be  spared  the  disgrace 
of  wearing  the  family  livery.  The  next  day  saw  Richard  (his  name  was 
Richard  Livingston)  on  the  road  to  Wigton  palace,  bearing  a  letter  from 
Lord  Wigton  to  his  daughter  Jane,  setting  forth  the  qualities  of  the 
young  man,  and  hoping  she  would  now  be  better  contented  with  her 
present  residence. 

It  was  Lady  Jane's  practice  every  day  to  take  a  walk,  prescribed  by 
her  father,  in  the  garden,  on  which  occasions  the  countess  conceived 
herself  acting  up  to  the  letter  of  her  husband's  commands  when  she 
ordered  Richard  to  attend  his  pupil.  This  arrangement  was  exceedingly 
agreeable  to  Lady  Jane,  as  they  sometimes  took  out  the  theorbo  and 
added  music  to  the  other  pleasures  of  the  walk. 

However,  to  make  a  long  story  short,  it  would  have  been  a  new  pro- 
blem in  nature  could  these  young  people  have  escaped  from  falling  in 
love.  They  were  constantly  together ;  no  compauy  frequented  the  house ; 
the  mother  was  old  and  infirm,  and  perfectly  satisfied  when  she  knew 
Lady  Jane  was  within  the  limits  prescribed  by  her  father.  Lady  Jane 
was  now  in  her  eighteenth  year,  and  probably  never  had  seen,  and  cer- 
tainly never  conversed  with  any  man  having  the  education  and  polish 
of  a  gentleman.  Although  Richard  had  not  yet  told  his  tale  of  love,  his 
genteel  deportment,  handsome  person,  and  certain  sorts  of  attention 
which  love  only  can  dictate,  had  won  her  heart  before  she  knew  it;  her 
only  fear  now  was  that  she  might  betray  herself;  and  the  more  she 
admired,  the  more  reserved  she  became  towards  him.  As  for  Richard, 
it  was  no  wonder  that  he  should  be  deeply  smitten  with  the  charms  of 
his  mistress;  forever,  as  he  stole  a  long  furtive  glance  at  her  graceful 
form,  he  thought  he  had  never  seen,  in  Spain  or  Italy,  any  such  speci- 
mens of  female  loveliness;  and  the  admiration  with  which  she  knew  he 
beheld  her,  his  musical  accomplishments  which  had  given  her  so  much 
pleasure,  all  conspired  to  render  him  precious  in  her  sight  The  habit 
of  contemplating  her  lover  every  day,  and  that  in  the  dignified  character 
of  an  instructor,  gradually  blinded  her  to  his  humble  quality,  and  to  the 
probable  sentiments  of  her  father  and  the  world  upon  the  subject  of  her 
passion;  besides,  she  often  thought  that  Richard  was  not  what  he  seemed 
to  be!  She  had  heard  of  Lord  Belhaven,who,  in  the  period  immediately 
preceding,  had  taken  refuge  from  the  fury  of  Cromwell  in  the  service  of 
tin'  English  nobleman  whose  daughter's  heart  he  had  won  under  the 
humble  disguise  of  a  gardener,  and  whom,  on  the  recurrence  of  better 
times,  he  carried  home  to  Scotland  as  his  lady. 

Things  continued  in  this  way  during  the  greater  part  of  the  summer 
without  the  lovers  coining  to  an  eclaircissement,  when  the  Earl  of  Home, 
a  nay  young  nobleman,  hearing  of  the  beauty  of  Lady  Jane,  left  Edin- 
burgh and  took  the  way  to  Lord  Wigton's  palace,  resolving  first  to  see, 
then  to  love,  and  finally  to  run  away  with  the  young  lady.     He  skulked 


ROBERT    R.    LIVINGSTON.  Ill 

about  for  several  days,  and  at  last  got  a  sight  of  the  hidden  beauty  over 
the  garden  wall,  as  she  was  talking  with  Richard.  He  thought  lie  had 
never  seen  a  lady  so  beautiful  before,  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  resolved 
to  make  her  his  own.  He  watched  next  day,  and  meeting  Richard  on 
the  outside  of  the  premises,  proposed  by  a  bribe  to  secure  his  services 
in  procuring  him  an  interview  with  Lady  Jane.  Richard  promptly  re- 
jected the  offer,  but  upon  a  second  thought  saw  fit  to  accept  it.  On  the 
afternoon  of  the  second  day  he  was  to  meet  Lord  Home,  and  report 
progress.  With  this  they  parted — Richard  to  muse  on  this  unexpected 
circumstance,  which  he  saw  would  blast  all  his  hopes  unless  he  should 
resolve  upon  prompt  measures;  and  the  Earl  to  the  humble  village  inn, 
where  he  had  for  the  last  few  days  acted  the  character  of  "  the  daft  lad 
frae  Edinburgh,  ivha  seemed  to  hah  mair  siller  than  sense." 

What  passed  between  Jane  and  Richard  that  afternoon  and  evening 
my  informant  does  not  say;  early  the  next  morning,  however,  Richard 
might  have  been  seen  jogging  swiftly  along  the  road  to  Edinburgh, 
mounted  on  a  stout  nag,  with  the  fair  Lady  Jane  comfortably  seated  on 
a  pillion  behind  him.  It  was  market  day  in  Edinburgh,  and  the  lanes 
and  streets,  on  entering  the  city,  were  crowded  with  carts,  &c,  so  that 
they  were  compelled  to  slacken  their  pace,  and  were  thus  exposed  to  the 
scrutinizing  gaze  of  the  inhabitants. 

Both  had  endeavored  to  disguise  every  thing  remarkable  in  their  ap- 
pearance, so  far  as  dress  and  demeanor  could  be  disguised;  yet,  as  Lady 
Jane  could  not  conceal  her  extraordinary  beauty,  and  Richard  had  not 
found  it  possible  to  part  with  a  sly  and  dearly  beloved  mustache,  it  natu- 
rally followed  that  they  were  honored  with  a  great  deal  of  staring,  and 
many  an  urchin  upon  the  street  threw  up  his  arms  as  they  passed  along, 
exclaiming,  "  Oh !  the  black  bearded  man !"  or  "  Oli  the  bonnie  ladie !" 
The  men  all  admired  Lady  Jane,  the  women  Richard.  The  lovers  had 
thus  to  run  a  sort  of  gauntlet  of  admiration  till  they  reached  the  house 
of  a  friend,  when  the  minister  being  sent  for,  in  a  few  minutes  Richard 
and  Lady  Jane  were  united  in  the  holy  bands  of  matrimony. 

In  Scotland,  the  promise  of  the  man  and  woman  before  witnesses 
constitutes  a  lawful  marriage. 

When  the  ceremony  was  concluded,  and  the  clergyman  and  witnesses 
satisfied  and  dismissed,  the  lovers  left  the  house,  with  the  design  of 
walking  in  to  the  city.  Lady  Jane  had  heaid  much  from  her  sisters  in 
praise  of  Edinburgh,  but  had  never  seen  that  gude  toon  until  that  day. 
In  conformity  with  a  previous  arrangement,  Lady  Jane  walked  first,  like 
a  lady  of  honor,  and  Richard  followed  close  behind,  with  the  dress  and 
deportment  of  a  servant;  her  ladyship  was  dressed  in  her  finest  suit,  and 
adorned  with  her  finest  jewels,  all  which  she  had  brought  with  her  on 
purpose  in  a  small  bundle,  which  she  bore  on  her  lap  as  she  rode  behind 
Richard.  Her  step  was  light  and  her  bearing  gay.  As  she  moved  along 
the  crowd  in  the  streets  gave  way  on  both  sides,  and  wherever  she  went 
she  left  behind  her  a  wake,  as  it  were,  of  admiration  and  confusion. 

It  so  happened  that  on  this  day  the  parliament  of  Scotland  was  going 
to  adjourn,  a  day  on  which  there  was  always  a  general  turn  out  among 
the  gentry,  and  a  grand  procession.  Richard  and  his  lady  now  directed 
their  steps  to  the  parliament  square.  Here  all  was  bustle  and  magnifi- 
cence; dukes  and  lords,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  all  in  the  most  splendid 
attire,  threading  their  way  among  the  motley  crowd.  Some  smart,  well- 
dressed  gentlemen  were  arranging  their  cloaks  and  swords  bv  the  pas- 
sage-way which  had  given  entry  to  Richard  and  Jane,  most  of  whom,  at 
the  sight  of  our  heroine,  stood  still  in  admiration  ;  one  of  them,  however, 
with  the  trained  assurance  of  a  rake,  observing  her  to  be  very  beautiful', 


112  ROBERT    R.    LIVINGSTON. 

and  a  stranger,  with  only  one  attendant,  accosted  her  in  language  which 
made  her  blush  and  tremble.  Richard's  brow  reddened  with  anger  as 
he  commanded  the  offender  to  leave  the  lady  alone. 

"And  who  are  you,  my  hrave  fellow?"  said  the  youth,  with  bold 
assurance. 

"Sirrah!"  exclaimed  Richard,  forgetting  his  livery,  "  I  am  that  lady's 
husband — her  servant,  1  mean — ;"  and  here  he  stopped  short  in  con- 
fusion. 

"Admirable!"  exclaimed  the  intruder.  "Ha,  ha,  ha!  Here,  sirs,  is  a 
lady's  lackey  who  does  not  know  whether  he  is  his  mistress's  servant  or 
husband.     Let  us  give  him  up  to  the  town  guard." 

So  saying  he  attempted  to  push  Richard  aside  and  take  hold  of  the 
lady;  but  he  had  not  time  to  touch  her  garments  with  even  a  finger 
before  her  protector  had  a  rapier  gleaming  before  his  eyes,  and  threaten- 
ing him  with  instant  death  if  he  laid  a  hand  upon  his  mistress.  At  sight 
of  the  steel,  the  bold  youth  stepped  back,  drew  his  sword,  and  was  pre- 
paring to  fight  when  a  crowd  collected.  His  majesty's  representative 
was  at  this  moment  stepping  out  of  the  Parliament  House,  who  ordered 
the  officer  of  his  guard  to  bring  the  parties  before  him.  This  order 
obeyed,  he  inquired  the  reason  of  this  disgraceful  occurrence. 

"Why,  here  is  a  fellow,  my  lord,"  answered  the  youth  who  had  insult- 
ed the  lady,  "  who  says  he  is  the  husband  of  a  lady  whom  he  attends  as 
a  liveryman,  and  a  lady  too,  the  bonniest,  I  dare  say,  that  has  been  seen 
in  Scotland  since  the  days  of  Queen  3Iagdaline." 

"And  what  matters  it  to  you,"  said  the  officer,  "in  what  relation  this 
man  stands  to  his  lady  ?  Let  the  parties  come  forward  and  tell  their 
own  story." 

The  lords  in  attendance  were  now  gathering  around,  all  eager  to  see 
the  bonnie  lady.  Lord  Wigton  was  in  the  number.  When  he  saw  his 
daughter  in  this  unexpected  place,  he  was  so  astounded  that  he  came 
uear  to  fainting  and  tailing  from  his  horse.  It  was  some  minutes  before 
he  could  speak,  and  his  first  ejaculation  was — 

"O  Jane!  Jane!  what's  this  ye've  been  abootf  and  what's  brocht  ye 
here  ?" 

"  Oh  Heaven  ha'e  a  care  o'  us !"  exclaimed  another  venerable  peer  at 
this  juncture,  who  had  just  come  up,  "and  what's  brocht  my  sonsie  son 
Richard  Livingston  to  Edinburgh,  when  he  should  have  been  fechten  the 
Dutch  in  Pennsylvania?" 

And  here  suffer  me  to  remark,  that  this  same  Richard  Livingston  (a 
progenitor  of  the  respectable  families  who  bear  his  name  in  this  state) 
was  the  second  son  of  Robert,  Earl  of  Linlithgow.  Of  course,  having 
nothing  to  depend  on  but  his  head  and  his  sword,  he  had  joined  a  regi- 
ment under  orders  for  America:  but  hearing  the  fame  of  Jane's  beauty, 
by  bribing  a  servant  who  concealed  him  in  the  garden,  got  sight  of  her 
as  she  was  watering  her  pots  of  primrose  and  polyanthus.  He  imme- 
diately left  the  army  and  assumed  the  disguise  by  which  he  insinuated 
himself  into  the  good  graces  of  her  father. 

The  two  lovers  being  thus  recognized  by  both  their  parents,  stood, 
with  downcast  eyes,  perfectly  silent,  while  all  was  buzz  and  confusion 
around  them;  for  those  concerned  were  not  more  surprised  at  the  aspect 
of  their  affairs  than  were  all  the  rest  at  the  beauty  of  the  tar-tinned  but 
hitherto  unseen  Lady  Jane  Fleming.  The  Earl  of  Linlithgow,  Richard's 
father,  was  the  first  to  speak  aloud;  and  this  he  did  in  a  laconic  though 
important  query,  which  he  couched  in  the  simple  words — 

"Are  you  married,  bairns?" 

"  Yes,  dearest  father,"  said  his  son,  gathering  courage  and  going  up 


\ 


ROBERT   R.    LIVINGSTON.  113 

close  to  his  saddle-bow,  "and  I  beseech  you  to  extricate  us  from  this 
crowd,  and  I  will  tell  you  all  when  we  are  alone." 

"A  pretty  man  ye  are,  truly,"  said  his  father,  "to  be  staying  at  home 
and  getting  married,  when  you  should  have  been  abroad  winning  honors 
and  wealth,  as  your  gallant  grand-uncle  did  with  Gustavus,  king  of 
Sweden.  However,  since  better  may  na'  be,  I  maun  try  and  console 
my  Lord  Wigton,  who  I  doot  not  has  the  ivarst  o'  the  bargain,  ye  ne'er- 
do-weel!" 

He  then  went  up  to  Lady  Jane's  father  and  shaking  him  by  the  hand, 
said : 

"  Though  we  have  been  made  relatives  against  our  will,  yet  I  hope 
we  may  continue  good  friends.  The  young  folks,"  he  continued,  "  are 
not  ill-matched  either.  At  any  rate,  my  lord,  let  us  put  a  good  face  on 
the  matter  before  these  gentle  folks.  I'll  get  horses  for  the  two,  and 
they'll  join  the  procession;  and  the  de'il  ha'e  me  if  Lady  Jane  dis  na 
outshine  the  hale  o'  them,n 

"My  Lord  Linlithgow,"  responded  the  graver  and  more  implacable 
Earl  Wigton,  "  it  may  suit  you  to  take  this  matter  blithely,  but  let  me  tell 
you  it's  a  much  more  serious  affair  for  me.  What  think  ye  am  I  to  do 
with  Kate  and  Grizzy  now?" 

"  Hoot  toot,  my  lord,"  said  Linlithgow,  with  a  smile,  "  their  chances 
are  as  gude  as  ever,  I  assure  you,  and  sae  will  everybody  think  who  kens 
them." 

The  cavalcade  soon  reached  the  court-yard  of  Holyrood  House,  where 
the  duke  and  duchess  invited  the  company  to  a  ball,  which  they  designed 
to  give  that  evening  in  the  hall  of  the  palace.  When  the  company  dis- 
persed, Lords  Linlithgow  and  Wigton  took  their  young  friends  under 
their  own  protection,  and  after  a  little  explanation,  both  parties  were 
reconciled. 

The  report  of  Lady  Jane*  singular  marriage  having  now  spread 
abroad,  the  walk  from  the  gate  to  the  palace  was  lined  with  noblemen 
an  hour  before  the  time  for  assembling,  all  anxious  to  see  Lady  Jane. 
At  length  the  object  of  all  their  anxiety  and  attention  came  tripping 
along,  hand  in  hand  with  her  father-in-law.  A  buzz  of  admiration  was 
heard  around;  and  when  they  entered  the  ball-room,  the  duke  and 
duchess  arose  and  gave  them  a  welcome,  hoping  they  would  often  adorn 
the  circle  at  Holyrood  palace.  In  a  short  time  the  dancing  commenced, 
and  amid  all  the  ladies  who  exhibited  their  charms  and  magnificent 
attire  in  that  captivating  exercise,  none  was,  either  in  person  or  dress, 
half  so  brilliant  as  Lady  Jane. 

The  posterity  of  Jane  and  Richard  occupy  the  same  lands  aud  palaces 
at  the  present  day.  It  is  a  name  revered  and  held  in  high  estimation  all 
over  Scotland,  and  I  might  add,  wherever  the  name  is  known.  Witness 
the  venerable  Chancellor  Livingston,  who  administered  the  oath  of  office 
to  Washington,  the  first  and  best  of  presidents,  and  who  cheered  the 
heart  and  strengthened  the  hands  of  Fulton  by  his  counsel  and  money, 
till  through  their  united  exertions  the  first  steam  boat  furrowed  the 
waters  of  the  Hudson. 


15 


114 


ROBERT   R.    LIVINGSTON. 


FITCH'S  STEAM  BOAT,  1788. 

The  voyage  from  New  York  to  Albany,  of  the  first  steam  borft,  opened 
the  door  to  a  progress  for  the  human  race,  equivalent,  at  one  bound,  to 
the  march  of  ages.  As  early  as  1787,  the  New  York  Legislature  granted 
to  John  Fitch,  the  sole  right  of  making  and  employing  the  steam  boat 
by  him  invented. 

The  annexed  cut  is  a  representation  of  Fulton's  steam  boat,  finished 
in  1807. 


When  it  was  announced  in  the  New  York  papers  that  the  boat  would 
start  from  the  foot  of  Courtland  street  at  (i.J  o'clock  on  Friday  morning, 
there  was  a  broad  smile  on  every  face,  as  the  inquiry  was  made,  if  any 
body  would  be  foolish  enough  to  go.  There  were  twelve  berths,  all  of 
which  were  taken,  at  seven  dollars  each,  to  Albany.  A  friend  of  Judge 
Wilson,  one  of  the  passengers,  accosted  him  thus  in  the  street,  "John, 
will  thee  risk  thy  life  in  such  a  concern?  I  tell  thee,  she  is  the  most 
fearful  ivildfowl  living,  and  thy  father  ought  to  restrain  thee."  The  boat 
ran  up  to  Albany  in  thirty-two  hours,  and  down  again  in  thirty  hours. 


THOMAS   LYNCH,    JR.  115 


W« 


oOO~   CL? 


HOMAS  Lynch  was  born  in  the  parish  of 
Prince  George,  South  Carolina,  August  5, 
1749,  and  was  of  Austrian  descent.  His 
pr|  father  was  a  man  of  great  wealth  and  influence ; 
!Z  and  having  early  espoused  the  cause  of  the 
™  colonists,  was  a  member  of  the  first  continental 
congress  in  1774.  He  was  a  member  of  the  body 
at  the  time  of  his  death.  Thomas,  the  son,  at  the 
age  of  thirteen  was  sent  to  England  to  complete  his 
education.  He  graduated  at  Cambridge  university, 
and  subsequently  studied  law  in  one  of  the  inns  of 
the  Temple  and  became  a  finished  lawyer.  He 
returned  to  South  Carolina  in  1772.  He  soon  after- 
ward married  a  lady  named  Shubrick.  After  serv- 
ing in  many  civil  offices  of  trust,  in  1775  Mr.  Lynch 
accepted  a  captain's  commission.  In  1776  he  was 
elected  to  congress,  when  he  appended  his  signature 
to  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  Towards  the 
close  of  1799,  by  the  advice  of  his  physicians,  he 
sailed  in  an  American  vessel  for  the  West  Indies, 
in  the  hope  of  finding  a  neutral  vessel  there,   in 


116  THOMAS   LYNCH,    JR. 

which  to  embark  for  Europe.  He  was  accompanied 
by  his  lovely  wife,  but  they  never  reached  their 
destination.  The  vessel  was  supposed  to  have 
foundered  at  sea,  and  the  ocean  was  the  tomb  of 
all  on  board. 

"The  noblest  of  cemeteries  is  the  ocean.  Its 
poetry  is,  and  in  human  language  ever  shall  be, 
unwritten.  Its  elements  of  sublimity  are  subjects 
of  feeling,  not  description.  Its  records,  like  a  re- 
flection mirrored  on  its  waveless  bosom,  can  not 
be  transferred  to  paper.  Its  vastness,  its  eternal 
heavings,  its  majestic  music  in  a  storm,  and  its 
perils,  are  things  which  are  hard  to  conceive.  But 
there  is  one  element  of  moral  sublimity  which  ex- 
presses the  mind ;  and  that  is,  that  the  sea  is  the 
largest  of  cemeteries,  and  all  its  slumberers  sleep 
without  a  monument." 

"  It  is  a  solemn  thought,  and  a  not  less  interest- 
ing one,  that  no  one  knoweth  where  his  grave  may 
be  !  It  is  a  thought  calculated  to  awe  into  humility 
the  pride  of  the  human  heart,  that  where  our  forms, 
now  so  full  of  life  and  vigor,  shall  in  a  few  years 
be  laid,  probably  there  to  remain  until  the  final 
resurrection,  sage  nor  philosopher  can  tell.  In  our 
humble  grave-yard  tours,  we  may  oft  have  viewed 
it ;  and  the  flowers  that  shall  bloom  upon  our  graves 
may  be  planted  by  the  hand  of  Friendship,  and 
watered  by  the  tear  of  Affection.  It  is  an  occur- 
rence of  no  unusual  character,  when  one  stands 
amid  the  seclusion  of  the  burying-yard,  and  knows 
not  the  fact  that  he  moralizes  on  his  own  grave. 
Or  it  may  be  in  the  wilderness,  yet  untrodden  by 
the  foot  of  civilization,  where  the  barbarian  and 
the  beast  still  preserve  their  sway.  It  may  be  be- 
neath the  restless  bosom  of  old  Ocean,  far  away 
from  the  surface-foam,  among  the  dark  and  quiet 
waters  that  course  below.  Again,  it  may  be  upon 
the  battle-field,  where  "  men  in  rude  onset  meet." 
Yes,  reader,  thou  who  this  moment,  perhaps,  sittest 


THOMAS    LYNCH,    JR.  117 

at  thy  own  fireside,  mayest  fall  upon  the  blood- 
stained field  where  men  have  met  in  "the  pride 
and  pomp  and  circumstance  of  glorious  war;"  the 
waving  flag,  the  nodding  plume,  the  scarlet  sash, 
the  glittering  uniform,  and  bristling  bayonet  and 
flashing  sword  gleaming  amid  the  smoky  cloud, 
fading — forever  fading,  upon  your  sight.  The  loud 
command,  the  iron  tread  of  feet,  the  thunder  of 
artillery,  the  groans  of  the  dying  friends  and  foes 
by  whom  you  are  surrounded,  the  half-breathed 
sigh  of  defeat,  the  loud  huzzas  of  victory,  receding, 
all  receding  from  your  ear  —  these  may  be  your 
funeral  anthem. 

"A  feeling  of  solemnity  and  awe  comes  o'er  the 
spirit,  when  we  reflect  that  the  spot  to  which  we 
shall  one  day  be  so  long  consigned,  is  as  uncertain 
as  any  other  feature  of  man's  destiny.  Mystery 
here  rules  supreme;  none  dare  dispute  her  reign. 
Upon  this  subject,  speculation  is  indeed  a  dream." 


118 


THOMAS    M  KEAN 


ESCENDED  of  Irish  ancestry,  was  born  in 
1734,  at  New  London,  Chester  county,  Pa. 
Being  admitted  to  the  bar  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one,  he  rapidly  rose  to  eminence  in  his 
profession.  After  previously  serving  his  state 
in  many  important  capacities,  he  was  elected 
to  the  continental  congress  in  1774,  in  which  body 
he  continued  until  the  ratification  of  peace  in  1783. 
He  was  a  zealous  advocate  of  the  measure  for 
independence,  and  signed  the  Declaration  with  a 
joyful  heart.  From  the  period  of  the  conclusion  of 
the  war  until  his  death,  Judge  M'Kean  was  actively 
engaged  in  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware  in  various 
pu  blic  services.  Having  been  chief  justice  of  Penn- 
sylvania for  twenty  years,  in  1799  he  was  elected 
governor  of  that  state,  which  office  he  held  for  nine 
years.  He  died  on  the  24th  of  June,  1817,  in  the 
eighty-fourth  year  of  his  age. 


ARTHUR   MIDDLETON. 


119 


LORY  will  long-  encircle  the  names  of  such 
men  as  Middleton.  He  was  born  at  Mid- 
dleton  Place,  in  South  Carolina,  in  1743. 
At  the  age  of  twelve,  he  was  sent  by  his  father 
to  England,  where  he  graduated  at  Cambridge 
university  with  distinguished  honors.  After 
traveling  on  the  continent,  he  returned  to  South 
Carolina  in  1768.  A  year  afterward,  he  married, 
and  with  his  wife  made  a  second  tour  on  the  conti- 
nent. Returning  in  1773,  he  took  up  his  residence  at 
the  family  seat.  In  1775  he  was  a  member  of  one  of 
the  committees  of  safety  of  South  Carolina.  In  1776 
he  was  elected  to  the  general  congress  at  Philadel- 
phia, where  he  voted  for  and  signed  the  Declaration 
of  Independence.  He  retired  from  congress  in  1777, 
and  in  1778  was  elected  governor  of  his  native  state,' 
but  declined  accepting  the  appointment.  In  1779' 
on  the  invasion  of  South  Carolina  by  the  British,  he 
joined  Governor  Rutledge  in  defending  the  state. 
In  this  invasion  he  lost  a  large  portion  of  his  im- 
mense estate.     After  the  surrender  of  Charleston 


120  ARTHUR   MIDDLETON. 

he  was  taken  prisoner,  and  as  such  remained  at  St. 
Augustine,  Florida,  one  year,  when  he  was  ex- 
changed. Being  again  elected  to  congress,  he  re- 
mained in  that  body  until  1782.  After  serving  in 
his  state  legislature,  he  died  on  the  1st  of  January, 
1788,  leaving  a  widow  and  eight  children. 

Mrs.  Middleton  lived  until  1814,  and  her  old  age 
was  gladdened  by  seeing  her  children  among  the 
most  honored  of  the  land.  She  was  a  woman  of 
strong  mind  and  indomitable  energy. 

How  truly  has  it  been  said  that  there  is  an  ad- 
mirable partition  of  qualities  between  the  sexes, 
which  the  Author  of  our  being  has  distributed  to 
each  with  a  wisdom  that  challenges  our  unbounded 
admiration. 

Man  is  strong;  woman  is  beautiful. 

Man  is  daring  and  confident ;  woman  diffident 
and  unassuming. 

Man  is  great  in  action  ;  woman  in  suffering. 

Man  shines  abroad;  woman  at  home. 

Man  talks  to  convince ;  woman  to  persuade  and 
please. 

Man  has  a  rugged  heart ;  woman  a  soft  and  ten- 
der one. 

Man  prevents  misery ;  woman  relieves  it. 

Man  has  science ;  woman  taste. 

Man  has  judgment;  woman  sensibility. 

Man  is  a  being  of  justice ;  woman  an  angel  of 
mercy. 


ROBERT    MORRIS. 


121 


pl^rtJ' 


»  ON  of  a  Liverpool  merchant,  was  born  in 
^teN  Lancashire,  England,  January,  1734.     His 

*%§y  father  engaging  in  the  American  trade,  left 
|^ Robert  to  the  care  of  a  relative,  and  settled  at 
y^  Oxford,  on  Chesapeake  bay.  When  Robert  was 
^  thirteen,  he  also  arrived,  and  was  placed  at 
a  school  in  Philadelphia.  At  the  age  of  fifteen, 
becoming  an  orphan,  he  was  placed  in  the  counting 
room  of  Charles  Willing,  of  Philadelphia,  by  whose 
care  he  became  a  finished  merchant.  On  the  death 
of  his  patron  Mr.  Morris  in  1754  formed  a  mercan- 
tile partnership  with  Mr.  Thomas  Willing.  When 
the  tragedy  of  Lexington  had  aroused  the  fiercest 
indignation  of  the  people.  Mr.  Morris  took  an  active 
part  in  public  affairs,  and  in  November  of  that  year 
he  was  elected  to  the  general  congress,  where  his 
financial  talents  rendered  his  services  invaluable. 

On  the  18th  July,  1776,  he  was  again  elected  to 

congress.   '  This  was  fourteen  days  after  the  adoption 

of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  but  he  signed 

it  on  the  second  of  August  following.     As  an  in- 

16 


122  ROBERT    MORRIS. 

stance  of  his  patriotism,  it  may  be  mentioned  that 
at  the  gloomiest  period  of  the  revolution,  he  loaned 
upon  his  own  responsibility  ten  thousand  dollars. 
This  money  materially  assisted  Washington  in  col- 
lecting together  and  paying  the  gallant  band,  with 
which' the  crossed  the  Delaware,  and  won  the  glo- 
rious victory  at  Trenton.  Had  Morris  withheld 
that  ten  thousand  dollars,  how  different  might  have 
been  the  destiny  of  our  country! 

In  1781,  Mr.  Morris,  in  connection  with  others, 
established  a  bank  at  Philadelphia,  for  the  purpose 
of  issuing  bills  entitled  to  public  confidence.  The 
government  bills  having  become  worthless,  the  aid 
this  scheme  rendered  to  the  cause  was  incalculable. 
During  the  same  year  Mr.  Morris  was  appointed 
general  financial  agent  of  the  United  States,  or 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  a  service  which  no  other 
man  could  have  so  well  performed.  The  Bank  of 
North  America  was  put  by  him  into  successful  ope- 
ration, and  it  has  been  justly  said  that  the  campaign 
of  1781,  which  closed  the  revolutionary  war,  was 
sustained  wholly  by  the  credit  of  this  individual 
merchant. 

Having  served  in  the  convention  that  framed  the 
Federal  Constitution,  and  as  a  member  of  the  first 
congress  under  its  provisions,  he  was  solicited  by 
President  Washington  to  become  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  but  he  declined.  After  serving  a  regular 
term  in  the  United  States  senate,  Mr.  Morris  retired 
from  public  life.  He  died  on  the  8th  of  May,  1806, 
in  the  73d  year  of  his  age.  He  left  a  widow,  with 
whom  he  had  lived  in  conjugal  happiness  for  nearly 
forty  years.  His  wife  was  Miss  Mary  White,  a  sis- 
ter of  Bishop  White,  of  Pennsylvania. 


LEWIS    MORRIS.  123 


EWIS  Morris  was  born  at  Morrisania, West- 
chester county,  New  York,  in  1726.  Under 
the  law  of  primogeniture  which  then  pre- 
vailed, as  the  eldest  son,  he  inherited  his  father's 
manorial  estate.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  gra- 
duated with  honor  at  Yale  college,  after  which 
he  returned  to  his  estate.  His  strong  intellect,  pre- 
possessing personal  appearance,  and  great  wealth, 
soon  made  him  popular  throughout  the  colony. 
Although  at  the  commencement  of  the  oppression 
of  the  mother  country,  he  was  not  affected  by  it, 
yet  sympathy  for  others  induced  him  to  risk  all  by 
uniting  with  the  patriots  of  Massachusetts  and 
Virginia. 

In  April,  1775,  he  was  elected  to  the  second 
general  congress,  and  took  his  seat  in  the  May  fol- 
lowing. During  the  summer  of  1775,  he  was  sent 
on  a  mission  of  pacification  to  the  Indians  on  the 
western  frontier.  In  1776,  being  again  elected  to 
congress,  he  boldly  advocated  the  proposition  for 


124  LEWIS    MORRIS. 

independence,  and  without  faltering-  a  moment 
signed  the  Declaration,  for  which  he  afterwards 
received  the  thanks  of  his  state.  Three  of  his  sons 
served  with  distinction  in  the  army,  and  received 
the  thanks  of  congress. 

Mr.  Morris  in  1777  retired  from  congress;  but  he 
was  constantly  employed  in  public  services  in  his 
native  state  until  the  adoption  of  the  constitution. 
On  the  restoration  of  peace  he  returned  to  his  almost 
ruined  estate.  His  house  was  almost  destroyed, 
his  farm  wasted,  his  large  forest  despoiled,  his  cattle 
carried  otf,  and  his  family  driven  into  exile  by  the 
invading  foe.  Verily  those  were  times  to  try  the 
patriotism  of  men. 

Honored  by  all  who  knew  him,  he  died  in  Jan- 
uary, 1798,  in  the  seventy-second  year  of  his  age. 

Mr.  Morris  was  a  man  of  great  decision  of  cha- 
racter. How  true  it  is,  that  vigor,  energy,  resolu- 
tion, and  firmness  of  purpose  carry  the  day.  All 
men  who  have  done  things  well  in  life,  have  been 
remarkable  for  decision;  and  it  will  be  acknow- 
ledged that  in  the  race  of  life,  more  fail  for  want  of 
vigor  than  from  lack  of  talent.  "  Is  there  one  whom 
difficulties  dishearten,  who  bends  to  the  storm  ?  he 
will  do  little.  Is  there  one  who  will  conquer?  that 
kind  of  man  never  fails. 


JOHN    MORTON.  125 


iJg^E  was  born  near  Philadelphia  in  1724,  a 
f?PW§  snort  tHTie  a^ter  tne  death  of  his  father. 
^JfiflL  His  mother,  who  was  quite  young,  took  a 
i©  second  husband,  who  became  greatly  attached 
^%  to  John,  to  whom  he  gave  a  good  education. 

Mr.  Morton  in  1764  was  appointed  justice  of 
the  peace.  Soon  afterwards  he  was  elected  to  the 
general  assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  and  for  a  num- 
ber of  years  he  was  speaker  of  the  house.  In  1765 
he  was  a  delegate  to  the  "stamp  act  congress," 
and  on  the  following  year  was  made  sheriff  of  his 
county.  He  was  afterwards  elevated  to  the  bench 
of  the  supreme  court  of  the  province.  In  1774  he 
was  appointed  a  delegate  to  the  general  congress, 
and  reelected  during  the  two  following  years.  His 
last  election  did  not  take  place  until  some  days  after 
the  adoption  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
but  he  had  the  privilege  of  signing  it  in  August. 
He  died  in  April,  1777,  in  the  fifty-fourth  year  of 
his  age. 


126  THOMAS   NELSON,  JR. 


C^tJ/Qi-^^ 


*M|||ORKTOWN,  Virginia,  has  the  honor  of 
5§?S|1||J  being  the  birth-place  of  Mr.  Nelson,  who 
i|§BJijr»  was  born  on  the  26th  of  December,  1738. 
(§M  He  was  the  eldest  son,  and  in  conformity  with 
<§3  the  fashion  of  those  times,  he  received  his  edu- 
cation in  England,  from  whence  he  returned  in 
1761.  In  1774  he  was  elected  to  the  house  of 
burgesses  of  Virginia,  where  he  took  sides  with  the 
patriots.  He  was  also  a  member  of  the  first  general 
convention  of  Virginia,  in  1774,  which  elected  dele- 
gates to  the  continental  congress.  In  1774  he  was 
elected  to  the  general  congress,  to  which  body  he 
was  reelected  in  1776,  where  he  was  one  of  the 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  On 
the  appearance  of  a  British  fleet  off  the  coast  of 
Virginia,  'he  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  militia 
of  his  state.  He  afterwards  raised  a  volunteer  corps 
and  joined  Washington  at  Philadelphia.  In  1779 
Mr.  Nelson  was  again  elected  to  congress.  In  May 
he  once  more  resumed  his  services  in  the  field,  and 
collecting  a  large  force  proceeded  to  Yorktown,  but 


THOMAS  NELSON,  JR.  127 

the  fleet  of  the  enemy  returning  to  New  York,  he 
did  not  come  in  contact  with  the  invaders.  In  1781, 
General  Nelson  was  elected  governor  of  Virginia, 
when  as  both  governor  and  commander-in-chief  of 
the  state  militia,  he  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  a 
large  force,  and  formed  a  junction  with  Lafayette,  in 
order  to  check  the  progress  of  Cornwallis.  Mainly 
with  his  own  funds  he  kept  his  force  together  until 
the  capture  of  Cornwallis  at  Yorktown.  He  was 
present  at  the  siege  of  that  place,  and  although  he 
owned  a  fine  mansion  in  the  town,  he  did  not 
hesitate  to  bombard  it.  After  the  battle  of  York- 
town  he  retired  from  public  life.  He  died  on  the 
4th  of  January,  1789,  in  the  fifty-third  year  of  his 
age. 


What  a  moment  must  be  that  when  the  last  flutter  expires  on  our  lips ! 
What  a  change!  Tell  me,  ye  who  are  deepest  read  in  nature  and  in 
God.  to  what  new  world  are  we  born  ?  What  new  being  do  we  receive  ? 
Whither  has  that  spark,  that  unseen,  that  incomprehensible  intelligence 
fled?  Look  upon  the  cold,  livid,  ghastly  corpse  that  lies  before  you! 
That  was  but  a  shell,  a  gross  and  earthly  covering,  which  held  the  im- 
mortal essence  that  has  now  left  us;  left  to  range,  perhaps  through 
illimitable  space;  to  receive  new  capacities  of  delight;  new  powers  of 
conception;  new  glories  of  beatitude!  Ten  thousand  fancies  rush  upon 
the  mind  as  it  contemplates  the  awful  moment  between  life  and  death ! 
It  is  a  moment  big  with  imaginations,  hopes  and  fears;  it  is  the  consum- 
mation, that  clears  up  all  mystery — solves  all  doubts — which  removes 
contradiction  and  destroys  errors.  Great  God!  what  a  flood  of  rapture 
may  at  once  burst  upon  the  departed  soul.  The  unclouded  brightness 
of  the  celestial  region — the  solemn  secrets  of  nature  may  then  be  di- 
vulged; the  immediate  unity  of  the  past,  the  present,  and  the  future; 
strains  of  imaginable  harmony,  forms  of  imperishable  beauty,  may  then 
suddenly  disclose  themselves,  bursting  upon  the  delighted  sense's,  and 
bathing  them  in  immeasurable  bliss!  The  mind  is  lost  in  this  excess  of 
wondrous  delight,  and  dares  not  turn  from  the  heavenly  vision  to  one 
so  gloomy,  so  tremendous  is  the  departure  of  the  wicked!  Human 
fancy  shrinks  back  appalled! 


128  WILLIAM    PACA. 


^MINENT  as  a  statesman  and  a  jurist,  Mr. 
5  Paca  took  his  place  among  the  worthies  of 
^  the  clay,  by  the  suffrages  of  his  country- 
,men.  He  was  the  son  of  a  wealthy  planter  of 
;  Virginia,  and  was  born  at  Wye  Hall,  on  the 
eastern  shore  of  the  state,  in  1740.  Having  gradu- 
ated at  Philadelphia  college,  he  studied  law,  and 
was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1761.  In  1762  he  was 
elected  to  the  provincial  assembly  of  Maryland. 
He  was  a  delegate  from  Maryland  to  the  continental 
congress.  Being  reelected  in  1775,  he  continued 
a  member  of  that  body  until  1778,  when  he  was 
appointed  chief-justice  of  the  supreme  court  of  his 
own  state.  He  affixed  his  name  to  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  in  August,  1776.  In  1782  he  was 
elected  governor  of  Maryland.  After  holding  that 
office  one  year,  he  retired  to  private  life.  He  died 
in  1799,  in  the  sixtieth  year  of  his  age. 


ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE. 


129 


NOWN  universally  by  a  long  life  actively 
devoted  to  the  good  of  his  fellow  men,  was 
(^ll^lk  horn  in  Boston,  Massachusetts,  in  1731. 
jy^  His  maternal  grandfather  was  Governor  Treat, 
|jv  of  Connecticut.  His  father  was  a  clergyman, 
"^and  his  mother  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Treat, 
of  Barnstable  county.  In  addition  to  this  advan- 
tageous moral  position,  Robert  had  instruction  in 
letters  from  the  worthy  Mr.  Lowell,  the  tutor  of  John 
Adams  and  John  Hancock.  Having  graduated  at 
Harvard  college,  for  some  time  he  was  engaged  as 
a  teacher.  After  a  voyage  to  Europe  he  studied  for 
the  ministry,  and  in  that  calling  he  attended  as 
chaplain  the  military  expedition  to  the  north  in 
1755.  Subsequently  he  relinquished  theology,  and 
studying  law  with  Chief-Justice  Pratt,  was  admitted 
to  the  bar. 

Removing   to  Taunton,    he  early  espoused   the 
popular  cause.     After  serving  in  the  provincial  as- 
sembly, Mr.  Paine  was  elected  in  1774  to  the  pro- 
vincial congress  of  Massachusetts.     He,  with  two 
17 


130  ROBERT  TREAT  PAINE. 

others,  was  deputed  by  the  general  congress  to  visit 
the  army  of  General  Schuyler  in  the  north,  for  the 
purpose  of  observation,  which  delicate  commission 
was  performed  with  entire  satisfaction.  Being  re- 
turned a  second  time  to  the  general  congress,  he 
voted  for  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  was 
one  of  its  signers.  He  died  in  1814,  aged  eighty- 
four  years. 

Mr.  Paine  was  a  very  abstemious  man,  requiring 
no  stimulant  but  that  of  a  warm  heart.  "It  is  in- 
teresting to  notice  the  different  articles  which  have 
been  taken  by  eminent  men  as  stimulants  to  the 
mental  faculties.  It  is  interesting  as  showing  how 
diametrically  opposite  means  may  produce  the  same 
effect  in  various  systems;  and  it  is  interesting  as 
showing  how  much  the  mind  sympathizes  with  the 
body.  Haller  drank  plenty  of  cold  water  when  he 
wished  for  great  activity  of  the  brain ;  Fox,  for  the 
same  purpose,  used  brandy.  The  stimulants  of 
Newton  and  Hobbes  were  the  fumes  of  tobacco; 
those  of  Pope  and  Fontenelle  strong  coffee.  Dr. 
Johnson,  at  one  period  of  his  life,  was  a  great  wine 
drinker;  but  in  the  latter  part  of  it  found  tea  a  good 
substitute.  Don  Juan  is  said  to  have  been  written 
under  the  influence  of  gin  and  water;  and  it  is  re- 
ported that  Lord  Brougham  plies  himself  hard  with 
port  when  he  wishes  to  shine.  Pitt  was  a  great 
drinker  of  wine;  Sheridan,  also,  was  fond  of  his 
bottle.  Dr.  Paris  tells  us,  that  when  Dr.  Dunning 
wished  to  make  an  extraordinary  display  of  elo- 
quence, he  always  put  a  blister  on  his  chest  a  few 
hours  before  he  was  to  speak,  in  order  that  it  might 
irritate  the  brain  by  sympathy  during  his  speech." 


JOHN  PENN. 


131 


QyOA^x/    N-Z^Tv^t-^ 


rg§S$ENN  was  born  in  Carolina  county,  Virginia, 

l^jifif^  May  17'  l741-     When  about  eighteen  years 

'm,'     of  age,  his  father  died  and  left  him  a  large 

f  estate.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar.  In  1774  he  removed  to  North 
^  Carolina,  where  in  1775  he  was  elected  to  the 
continental  congress.  He  discharged  his  duties  in 
that  body  for  three  successive  years,  and  eagerly 
signed  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  After 
holding  important  trusts  from  the  government  of 
North  Carolina,  he  died  full  of  honors  in  September 
1788,  in  the  forty-seventh  year  of  his  age. 


132 


GEORGE  READ. 


tf&%aut^ 


E  AD  was  a  native  of  Cecil  county,  Mary- 
'md,  where  he  was  born  in  1734.  He  was 
lie  eldest  of  six  brothers.  His  grandfather 
^emigrated  to  this  country  from  Dublin,  Ireland, 
agin  1726. 

^  At  the  age  of  seventeen  George  commenced 
the  study  of  law  at  Philadelphia,  and  at  the  age  of 
nineteen  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  commenced 
practice  at  New  Castle,  Delaware.  At  twenty-nine 
he  was  appointed  attorney-general  for  the  lower 
counties  of  Delaware,  which  office  he  held  until  his 
election  to  the  continental  congress  in  1774.  He 
also  served  in  the  general  assembly  of  Delaware  for 
eleven  consecutive  years.  Elected  to  the  general 
congress,  he  was  an  earnest  advocate  of  the  De- 
claration of  Independence,  and  rejoiced  Avhen  he 
was  permitted  to  place  his  name  upon  the  parch- 
ment. After  holding  numerous  other  offices  of  trust 
and  honor,  he  died  in  1798,  in  the  sixty-fourth  year 
of  his  age. 


CJJSAR    RODNEY. 


133 


SBm$^  ^°rn  at  ^over'  Delaware,  in  1730.     On 

lB   the  death  of  his  father  he  inherited  the 

BW *  paternal  estate.     In  1765  when  the  "stamp 

f'  act  congress"  met  in  New  York,  he  was  elected 
a  delegate  thereto  by  a  numerous  vote.  In 
1769  he  was  speaker  of  the  Delaware  provincial 
assembly,  where  he  continued  until  1774.  In  that 
year  he  took  his  seat  in  the  general  congress.  He 
was  one  of  the  committee  which  drew  np  the  de- 
claration of  rights.  In  additional  to  his  congres- 
sional duties,  he  acted  as  brigadier-general  of  his 
province.  In  1776  he  enjoyed  the  high  privilege 
of  signing  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  After 
performing  several  important  military  duties,  Gene- 
ral Rodney  joined  the  main  army  of  Washington 
when  Lord  Howe  had  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Elk  river.  Soon  after  this  event  Rodney  was  chosen 
president  of  the  state,  the  arduous  duties  of  which 
office  he  performed  for  about  four  years.  He  died 
in  1783  in  the  fifty-third  year  of  his  age. 


134 


GEORGE   ROSS. 


i^||||^ORN  at  Newcastle,  Delaware,  in  1730, 
^if/Hi)  Yecelve&  ft®™,  his  father,  who  was  a 
*&&$$  worthy  minister  of  the  Episcopal  church, 
%W^>  a  liberal  education.  Having  studied  law 
W%i  with  his  brother,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
■^  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  and  fixed  his  resi- 
dence at  Lancaster,  where  he  married  a  Miss  Law- 
ler.  In  1768,  he  was  elected  to  the  Pennsylvania 
assembly,  in  which  body  he  served  several  succes- 
sive years.  Heartily  espousing  the  cause  of  the 
patriots,  he  was  one  of  the  seven  delegates  represent- 
ing Pennsylvania  in  the  convention  for  calling  a 
general  congress.  He  served  in  congress  from  1774 
to  1777,  during  which  time  he  was  also  regularly 
elected  to  the  assembly.  He  signed  the  Declaration 
of  Independence  on  the  2d  of  August,  1776.  After 
acting  as  a  successful  mediator  in  difficulties  with 
the  Indians,  he  was  in  1799,  appointed  admiralty- 
judge  for  Pennsylvania,  but  in  July  the  year  follow- 
ing, he  entered  upon  his  immortal  existence,  in  the 
fiftieth  year  of  his  age. 


BENJAMIN    RUSH. 


135 


/J&/^//Zrrz^is 


lost 


jN  eminent  statesman,  physician  and  writer, 

JP"  was  born  at  Berberry,  Pennsylvania,  Dec. 

24,  1745.     His  grandfather  was  an  officer 

in  Cromwell's  army,  and  who  after  the  death 

of  the  latter,  emigrated  to  America. 

When  Benjamin  was  six  years  of  age,  he 
his  father.  His  mother  for  the  purpose  of 
giving  her  sons  a  liberal  education,  sold  her  land 
and  removed  to  Philadelphia. 

After  completing  his  preparatory  studies,  Benja- 
min graduated  at  Princeton  College  at  the  age  of 
sixteen.  He  then  studied  medicine  under  the 
celebrated  Dr.  Rodman  of  Philadelphia.  In  1766, 
with  a  view  to  professional  improvement,  he  visited 
England.  In  1768  he  went  to  Paris.  In  the  au- 
tumn of  that  year  he  returned  to  America,  with  an 
increased  stock  of  knowledge,  and  bearing  the  title 
of  doctor  of  medicine,  which  had  been  conferred 
upon  him  at  Edinburgh. 

Commencing  practice  in  Philadelphia,  he  soon 


136  BENJAMIN    RUSH. 

became  universally  popular,  and  after  the  war, 
students  not  only  from  all  parts  of  the  United  States 
but  from  Europe  flocked  to  Philadelphia  to  hear 
his  lectures. 

In  1775  he  was  elected  to  the  general  congress, 
but  declined.  But  when  in  1776,  some  of  the 
Pennsylvania  delegates  refused  to  vote  for  indepen- 
dence, the  doctor,  being  elected,  accepted  and 
signed  the  Declaration  on  the  second  of  August  fol- 
lowing. 

In  1777  he  was  appointed  physician  general  of  the 
military  hospitals.  In  the  following  year  he  was 
appointed  president  of  the  mint,  which  office  he 
held  fourteen  years.  Although  eminent  as  a  states- 
man, yet  it  is  as  a  physician  that  he  is  more  inti- 
mately known.  He  was  professor  of  chemistry  in 
the  Medical  college  of  Philadelphia;  professor  of 
the  theory  and  practice  of  medicine  and  also  of 
chemical  science  in  the  Medical  college  of  Penn- 
sylvania. These  he  held  during  life.  His  active 
and  benevolent  mind  left  its  impress  upon  several 
public  institutions.  He  formed  the  Philadelphia 
dispensary  in  1786,  and  was  one  of  the  principal 
founders  of  Dickerson  college  at  Carlisle,  Penn. 
He  also  held  numerous  offices  in  literary  and  scien- 
tific institutions  both  abroad  and  at  home.  He  was 
a  firm  and  inflexible  patriot,  a  skillful  and  honor- 
able professional  man,  a  profound  thinker  and 
writer,  and  a  zealous  Christian.  He  died  April  17, 
1813,  in  the  sixty-eighth  year  of  his  age. 


A  skillful,  and  judicious,  pious  physician  is  capable  of  exerting  an  ex- 
tensive and  most  salutary  influence  in  any  community  in  which  he  is 
located.  He  can  do  more  to  stay  the  ravages  of  intemperance  than  al- 
most any  other  man,  because  he  can  exhibit  in  a  clearer  light  the  delete- 
rious influence  of  the  inebriating  cup  upon  the  health,  the  happiness, 
and  the  lives  of  those  who  partake  of  its  poison.  He  can  be  an  angel  of 
mercy  to  families,  who  are  suffering  the  pain  of  sickness  or  bereavement. 


BENJAMIN   RUSH.  137 

He  can,  by  timely  warning,  guard  against  the  approach  of  disease,  and 
preserve  valuable  Jives.  He  can,  by  his  example,  show  how  much 
prudent  living  contributes  to  happiness  and  length  of  days.  He  has 
opportunities  of  commending  the  gospel  in  its  renovating,  comforting 
and  sustaining  power,  which  few  possess.  He  is  admitted  to  the  cham- 
ber of  sickness  when  others  are  excluded;  he  stands  by  the  bed  side  of 
the  dying  when  the  spirit  is  taking  its  everlasting  flight.  '  He  sees  men 
in  circumstances  when  pride  and  passion  lose  their  sway;  when  thoughts 
of  God  and  eternity  are  pressed  upon  their  minds;  when  their  refuges 
of  lies  are  torn  away,  and  when  they  feel  the  need  of  the  promises  and 
the  consolations  of  religion.  At  such  seasons  how  much  may  a  pious 
physician  accomplish  for  the  spiritual  welfare  of  his  fellow  men !  How 
appropriately  can  he  direct  the  mind  of  his  suffering  patient  to  the  great 
Physician  of  the  soul ! 

But  an  irreligious,  skeptical,  passionate,  ungodly  physician  is  an  awful 
curse  upon  any  community.  He  mingles  in  scenes  of  sadness  and  sor- 
row, but  has  not  one  ray  of  spiritual  comfort  to  impart  to  those  who  are 
bowed  down  by  the  weight  of  their  afflictions.  He  sees  hi»  patient  sink- 
ing and  dying,  but  is  not  able  to  point  them  to  that  better  and  brighter 
world, 

"Where  faith  lifts  up  trie  tearless  eye," 

and  a  final  and  glorious  emancipation  is  gained  from  ssin  and  sadness 
and  death.  Physicians  of  this  class  make  strong  objections  to  the  pre- 
sentation of  the  claims  of  the  gospel  to  the  minds  of  their  patients. 
They  urge  the  necessity  of  keeping  them  aloof  from  all  excitement,  and 
insist  that  their  minds  must  not  be  disturbed  by  any  alarming  represent- 
ations of  the  future ;  by  this  means,  many  distressed  sinners  have  been 
left  to  die,  without  the  efficacious  remedy  which  the  gospel  furnished 
for  their  exigencies.  It  is  a  false  view,  utterly  false,  that  a  kind  and 
appropriate  exhibition  of  religious  truth  and  the  plan  of  salvation  has  an 
injurious  influence  upon  those  who  are  prostrated  by  disease.  Their 
recovery  is  not  jeoparded  by  fidelity  to  their  souls.  Not  unfrequently,  it 
is  essentially  aided,  by  relieving  their  minds  of  the  distressing  apprehen- 
sions which  are  forced  upon  them. 


18 


138  EDWARD   RUTLEDGE. 


Si^^TOT  a  few  of  the  patriots  of  the  revolution 
{'lPmM  were  of  Irish  descent,  as  was  this  individual. 
K$$P>)v  He  was  born  at  Charleston,  South  Caro- 
lina, in  November,  1749.  After  completing  his 
legal  studies  at  the  Inner  Temple,  London,  he 
returned  in  1772,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-five  he  was  elected  to  the  first 
general  congress.  He  was  reelected  in  1775,  and 
1776,  and  notwithstanding  there  were  large  num- 
bers of  people  in  his  state  opposed  to  it,  he  fearlessly 
voted  for  and  signed  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence. Some  years  afterwards  he  was  placed  at  the 
head  of  a  corps  of  artillery,  and  in  1780,  while 
Charleston  was  invested  by  the  enemy,  he  was 
active  in  affording  succor  to  General  Lincoln,  at 
that  time  within  the  besieged  city.  But  while  at- 
tempting to  throw  troops  into  the  city,  he  was  taken 
prisoner  and  sent  captive  to  St.  Augustine,  Florida. 
At  the  expiration  of  a  year  he  was  exchanged  and 
set  at  liberty.  After  the  evacuation  of  Charleston 
in  1781,  Mr.  "Rutledge  retired  and  resumed  the  prac- 


EDWARD    RUTLEDGE.  139 

tice  of  his  profession,  and  for  a  great  portion  of  the 
following  seventeen  years  was  engaged  in  the  state 
legislature,  In  that  body  he  uniformly  opposed 
every  proposition  for  extending  slavery.  In  1794 
he  was  elected  to  the  United  States  senate,  and  in 
1798  he  was  governor  of  his  native  state.  He  died 
January  23,  1800,  in  the  sixtieth  year  of  his  age. 


Eighty  years  ago,  slavery  existed  in  Massachu- 
setts; and  was  there  practised,  by  some,  as  cruelly 
as  now  on  the  worst  sugar  plantations  of  Louisiana. 
Mrs.  Child,  in  her  History  of  Woman,  says:  "A 
wealthy  lady  residing  in  Gloucester,  Mass.,  was  in 
the  habit  of  giving  away  the  infants  of  her  female 
slaves,  a  few  days  after  they  were  born,  as  people 
are  accustomed  to  dispose  of  a  litter  of  kittens. 
One  of  her  neighbors  begged  an  infant,  which  in 
those  days  of  comparative  simplicity,  she  nourished 
with  her  own  milk,  and  reared  among  her  own  child- 
ren. This  woman  had  an  earnest  desire  for  a  bro- 
cade gown,  and  her  husband  not  feeling  able  to  pur- 
chase one,  she  sent  her  little  nursling  to  Virginia, 
and  sold  her,  when  she  was  about  seven  years  old." 


140 


ROGER    SHERMAN. 


Jloytr 


ijnjzyn 


rrxa/rx^ 


^SURPASSED  in  sterling  patriotism,  this 
J  remarkable  man  was  a  native  of  Newton, 

jy2/>  Massachusetts.  He  was  born  April  19, 1721. 
(/%  Two  years  afterward,  the  family  removed  to 
Pi>  Stonington,  in  the  same  state,  where  the  father 
^  of  Roger  died  in  1741.  Being  then  only  nine- 
teen years  of  age,  Roger  had  the  whole  care  and 
support  of  a  large  family  devolving  upon  him.  He 
had  served  an  apprenticeship  to  a  shoemaker,  but 
he  now  took  charge  of  the  small  farm  left  by  his 
father.  At  the  end  of  three  years  the  farm  was  sold 
and  they  moved  to  New  Milford,  Connecticut, 
where  a  married  elder  brother  resided.  This  jour- 
ney Roger  performed  on  foot,  carrying  his  shoe- 
maker's tools  upon  his  back,  and  for  a  considerable 
period  he  worked  industriously  at  his  trade  there. 

Having  enjoyed  scarcely  any  advantages  of  edu- 
cation, he  supplied  the  deficiency  by  acquiring  a 
large  stock  of  knowledge  from  books,  which  he 
studied  during  his  apprenticeship.     Having  formed 


ROGER   SHERMAN.  141 

a  partnership  in  the  mercantile  business  with  his 
brother,  at  New  Milford,  he  studied  law  during-  his 
leisure  hours,  and  he  attained  such  proficiency,  that 
in  December,  1754,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 

In  1755  he  was  elected  a  representative  to  the 
general  assembly  of  Connecticut.  He  was  subse- 
quently appointed  county  judge  for  Litchfield  county. 
In  1761  he  moved  to  New  Haven,  where  he  received 
the  honorary  degree  of  A.  M.,  from  Yale  college,  of 
which  institution  he  was  treasurer.  The  next  year 
he  was  elected  to  the  senate  of  the  Connecticut 
legislature;  and  during  the  excitement  relative  to 
the  stamp  act,  Roger  fearlessly  took  part  with  the 
patriots.  In  1774  he  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the 
continental  congress,  and  was  appointed  one  of  the 
committee  to  draft  the  Declaration  of  Independence, 
which  document,  after  its  adoption  by  congress,  he 
signed  with  a  hearty  good  will. 

His  first  wife  was  Elizabeth  Hartwell,  of  Stough- 
ton,  and  his  second,  Rebecca  Prescott,  of  Danvers. 
He  had  seven  children  by  his  first  wife,  and  eight 
by  his  last.  He  died  July  23,  1793,  in  the  seventy- 
third  year  of  his  age. 

It  is  probable  that  Rebecca  Prescott  was  a  de- 
scendant of  the  Mr.  Prescott  mentioned  in  the  fol- 
lowing interesting  letter,  written  in  1715,  by  the 
Rev.  Lawrence  Conant,  giving  an  account  of  the 
ordination  of  the  first  minister  ever  settled  over  the 
old  south  parish  in  Danvers.  The  letter  is  a  curi- 
ous relic  of  the  olden  time. 

"Ye  governor  was  in  ye  house,  and  her  majesty's  commissioners  of  ye 
customs,  and  they  set  together  in  a  high  seat,  by  ye  pulpit  stairs.  Ye 
governor  appears  very  devout  and  attentive,  although  he  favors  episco- 
pacy, and  tolerates  ye  quakers  and  baptists,  but  is  a  strong  opposer  of 
ye  papists.  He  was  dressed  in  a  black  velvet  coat,  bordered  with  gold 
lace,  and  buff  breeches,  with  gold  buckles  at  ye  knees,  and  white  silk 
stockings.  There  was  a  disturbance  in  ye  galleries,  where  it  was  filled 
with  divers  negroes,  mulattoes  and  Indians,  and  a  negro  called  Pomp 
Shorter,  belonging  to  Mr.  Gardner,  was  called  forth  and  put  in  ye  broad 
aisle,  where  he  was  reproved  with  great  carefulness  and  solemnity.  He 
was  then  put  in  ye  deacons'  seat,  between  two  deacons,  in  view  of  ye 
whole  congregation ;  but  ye  sexton  was  ordered  by  Mr.  Prescott  to  take 


142  ROGER    SHERMAN. 

him  out,  because  of  his  levity  and  strange  contortion  of  countenance, 
(giving  scandal  to  ye  grave  deacons)  and  put  him  in  ye  lobby  under  ye 
stairs;  some  children  and  a  mulatto  woman  were  reprimanded  for  laugh- 
ing at  Pomp  Shorter.  While  ye  services  at  ye  house  were  ended,  ye 
council  and  other  dignitaries  were  entertained  at  ye  house  of  Mr.  Epes, 
on  ye  hill  near  by,  and  we  had  a  bountiful  table,  with  bear's  meat  and 
venison,  ye  last  of  which  was  a  fine  buck  shot  in  ye  woods  near  by. 
Ye  bear  was  killed  in  Lynn  woods,  near  Reading.  After  ye  blessing 
was  craved  by  Mr.  Garrish  of  Wreutham,  word  came  that  ye  buck  was 
shot  on  ye  Lord's  day,  by  Pequot,  an  Indian,  who  came  to  Mr.  Epes 
with  a  lie  in  his  mouth,  like  Ananias  of  old ;  ye  council  thereupon  re- 
fused to  eat  ye  venison,  but  it  was  afterwards  agreed  that  Pequot  should 
receive  forty  stripes  save  one,  for  lying  and  profaning  ye  Lord's  day, 
and  restore  to  Mr.  Epes  ye  cost  of  ye  deer;  and,  considering  this  a  just 
and  righteous  sentence  on  ye  sinful  heathen,  and  that  a  blessing  had 
been  craved  on  ye  meat,  ye  council  all  partook  of  it  but  Mr.  Shepard, 
whose  conscience  was  tender  on  ye  point  of  venison." 


ROGER  MINOT  SHERMAN, 

A  nephew  of  Roger  Sherman,  died  at  Fairfield,  Connecticut,  in  De- 
cember, 1844,  in  the  72d  year  of  his  age.  He  entered  Yale  college  in 
the  year  1789,  at  which  institution  he  graduated  in  1792,  with  distin- 
guished reputation  as  a  scholar.  Among  his  classmates  were  Judge 
Chapman,  Judge  Law,  of  Meredith,  N.  Y.,  C.  Chauncey  Esq.,  S.  Lathrop 
Esq.,  and  Mr.  Eli  Whitney.  After  leaving  college,  he  taught  school  for 
a  while  in  New  Haven,  while  he  was  studying  law. 

He  afterwards  became  a  tutor  in  Yale  college,  and  Dr.  Beecher, 
Thomas  Day  Esq.,  George  Griffin  Esq.,  Dr.  Murdock,  and  S.  P.  Staples 
Esq.,  were  among  his  pupils.  He  first  settled  as  a  lawyer  in  Norwalk, 
and  immediately  took  a  high  rank  at  the  bar.  He  afterwards  removed 
to  Fairfield,  where  he  ended  his  days. 

Mr.  Sherman  sustained  many  honorable  offices  in  the  state.  He  was  an 
assistant  under  the  old  constitution,  and  a  member  of  the  famous  Hartford 
convention.  Occasionally  he  was  a  member  of  the  house  of  representa- 
tives, and  for  several  years  judge  of  the  superior  court.  It  might  be 
added,  that  while  a  tutor  in  Yale  college  he  made  a  profession  of  reli- 
gion, and  was  for  many  years  a  deacon  in  the  church  at  Fairfield. 

Some  years  ago  Roger  M.  Sherman,  and  Perry  Smith,  of  Rhode  Island, 
were  opposed  to  each  other  as  advocates  in  an  important  case  before  a 
a  court  of  justice.  Smith  opened  with  a  violent  and  foolish  tirade 
against  Sherman's  political  character.  Sherman  rose  very  composedly 
and  remarked:  "I  shall  not  discuss  politics  with  Mr.  Smith  before  this 
court,  but  I  am  perfectly  willing  to  argue  questions  of  law,  chop  logic, 
or  even  to  split  hairs  with  him."  "  Split  that  then,"  said  Smith,  at  the 
same  time  pulling  a  short,  rough  looking  hair  from  his  head,  and  handing 
it  over  to  Sherman.  "May  it  please  the  honorable  court,"  retorted  Sher- 
man, as  quick  as  lightning,  ''I  didn't  say  bristles." 


JAMES   SMITH. 


143 


Smith  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  was 
brought  by  his  father  to  America  when 
a  quite  young.  He  was  born  about  the  year 
1720.  His  father,  who  with  a  large  family  of 
children  settled  on  the  Susquehanna  river, 
died  there  in  1761.  James  was  taught  Greek, 
Latin  and  surveying.  He  afterwards  studied  law, 
and  on  being  admitted  to  the  bar,  he  removed  west, 
where  he  practised  law  and  surveying.  He  married 
Miss  Eleanor  Amor,  of  Newcastle,  Delaware,  and 
became  a  permanent  resident  of  York,  where  he 
stood  at  the  head  of  the  bar  until  the  storm  of  the 
revolution  burst  forth.  He  spoke  out  fearlessly 
against  British  oppression,  and  when  the  Pennsyl- 
vania delegates  who  refused  to  vote  for  indepen- 
dence, withdrew  from  congress,  he  with  Clymer  and 
Rush  was  substituted,  and  signed  the  Declaration 
on  the  2d  of  August.  After  the  disasters  of  Brandy- 
wine  and  Germantown,  he  again  entered  congress. 
But  when  the  rainbow  appeared  in  the  dark  cloud 
at  the  battle  of  Monmouth,  he  retired  and  resumed 
his  professional  business.  He  died  on  the  11th  of 
July,  1806,  aged  ninety  years. 


144 


RICHARD  STOCKTON. 


jLj>y~^»» 


'N  or  about  the  year  1666,  the  great-grand- 
father of  this  patriot  came  from  England  and 
;ttled  upon  Long  Island.  He  afterwards 
'purchased  a  large  tract  of  land  at  Princeton, 
)w  Jersey,  where  with  a  few  others  he  com- 
menced a  settlement.  Richard  was  born  upon 
the  Stockton  manor,  October  1st,  1730.  Having 
graduated  at  New  Jersey  college  in  1748,  he  studied 
law  with  the  Hon.  David  Ogden,  of  Newark.  Being 
admitted  to  the  bar  in  1754,  he  rapidly  rose  to  dis- 
tinction. 

In  1766  Mr.  Stockton  visited  England.  On  his 
return  in  1767  he  was  escorted  to  his  residence  by 
the  people,  which  shows  how  greatly  he  was  be- 
loved. After  holding  other  offices,  he  was  elected 
to  the  general  congress  in  1776,  and  took  his  seat 
in  time  to  participate  in  the  dispute  upon  the  pro- 
position for  independence.  Although  at  first  doubt- 
ful of  the  expediency  of  an  immediate  declaration, 
after  hearing  the  arguments  in  its  favor,  he  cheer- 


RICHARD  STOCKTON.  145 

fully  signed  that  glorious  document.  Declining 
other  honors,  he  was  reelected  to  congress,  of  which 
he  was  an  active  and  influential  member. 

Soon  after  his  return  from  a  delicate  mission  to 
visit  the  northern  army  under  General  Schuyler,  he 
was  taken  prisoner  by  the  British,  who  treated  him 
with  great  severity.  He  was  subsequently  ex- 
changed, but  his  life  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  ill-usage 
he  had  received.  He  died  February  28,  1781,  in  the 
fifty-first  year  of  his  age.  He  was  first  placed  in 
the  common  jail  at  Amboy,  and  afterwards  removed 
to  the  old  prison  house  in  New  York  city. 

The  following  reminiscences  of  the  old  Sugar 
House  Prison,  which  formerly  stood  in  Liberty  street, 
is  from  the  pen  of  Grant  Thorburn. 

When  ages  shall  have  mingled  with  those  which  have  gone  before  the 
flood,  the  spot,  on  which  stood  this  prison  will  be  sought  for  with  more 
than  antiquarian  interest.  It  was  founded  in  1689,  and  occupied  as  a 
sugar  refining  manufactory  till  1776,  when  Lord  Howe  converted  it 
into  a  place  of  confinement  for  the  American  prisoners. 

It  was  a  dark  stone  building,  grown  gray  and  rusty  with  age,  withjsinall, 
deep,  windows,  exhibiting  a  dungeon-like  aspect,  and  transporting  the 
memory  to  scenes  of  former  days,  when  the  revolution  poured  its  deso- 
lating waves  over  the  fairest  portion  of  our  country.  It  was  five  stories 
high;  and  each  story  was  divided  into  two  dreary  apartments,  with 
ceilings  so  low,  and  the  light  from  the  windows  so  dim,  that  a  stranger 
would  take  the  place  for  a  jail.  On  the  stones-  in  the  walls,  and  on  many 
of  the  bricks  under  the  office  windows,  were  still  to  be  seen  initials  and 
ancient  dates,  as  if  done  with  a  penknife  or  nail;  this  was  the  work  of 
many  of  the  American  prisoners,  who  adopted  this,  among  other  means, 
to  while  away  their  weeks  and  years  of  long  monotonous,  confinement. 
There  is  a  strong  jail-like  door  opening  on  Liberty  street,  and  another 
on  the  southeast,  descending  into  a  dismal  eellar,  scarcely  allowing  the 
mid-day  sun  to  peep  through  its  window-gratings.  When  I  first  saw 
this  building — some  fifty  years  ago — there  was  a  walk,  nearly  broad 
enough  for  a  cart  to  travel  round  it;  but,  of  late  years,  a  wing  has  been 
added  to  the  northwest  end,  which  shuts  up  this  walk,  where,  for  many 
long  days  and  nights,  two  British  or  Hessian  soldiers  walked  their  weary 
rounds,  guarding  the  American  prisoners.  For  thirty  years  after  I 
settled  in  Liberty  street  this  house  was  often  visited  by  one  and  another 
of  those  warworn  veterans — men  of  whom  the  present  political  world- 
lings are  not  worthy.  I  often  heard  them  repeat  the  story  of  their 
sufferings  and  sorrows,  but  always  with  grateful  acknowledgments  to 
Him  who  guides  the  destinies  of  men  as  well  as  of  nations. 

One  morning,  when  returning  from  the  old  Fly  market  at  the  foot  of 
Maiden  lane,  I  noticed  two  of  those  old  soldiers  in  the  Sugar'House 
yard ;  they  had  only  three  legs  between  them — one  having  a  wooden 
leg.  I  stopped  a  moment  to  listen  to  their  conversation,  and  as  they  were 
slowly  moving  from  the  yard,  said  I  to  them — 

19 


146  RICHARD  STOCKTON. 

"Gentlemen,  do  either  of  you  remember  this  building?" 

"Aye,  indeed;  I  shall  never  forget  it,"  replied  he  of  the  one  leg.  "  For 
twelve  months  that  dark  hole,"  pointing  to  the  cellar,  "  was  my  only 
home.  And  at  that  door  1  saw  the  corpse  of  my  brother  thrown  into 
the  dead  cart  among  a  heap  of  others  who  had  died  in  the  night  pre- 
vious of  the  jail  fever.  While  the  fever  was  raging,  we  were  let  out  in 
companies  of  twenty,  for  half  an  hour  at  a  time,  to  breathe  the  fresh 
air;  and  inside  we  were  so  crowded  that  we  divided  our  number  into 
squads  of  six  each.  Number  one  stood  ten  minutes  as  close  to  the 
window  as  they  could  crowd  to  catch  the  cool  air,  and  then  stepped 
back,  when  number  two  took  their  places;  and  so  on.  Seats  we  had 
none;  and  our  beds  were  but  straw  on  the  floor,  with  vermin  inter- 
mixed. And  there,"  continued  he,  pointing  with  his  cane  to  a  brick  in 
the  wall,  "is  my  kill-time  work — ' A.  V.  S.  1777,'  viz.  Abraham  Van 
Sickler — which  I  scratched  with  an  old  nail.  When  peace  came,  some 
learned  the  fate  of  their  fathers  and  brothers  from  such  initials." 

My  house  being  near  by,  I  asked  them  to  step  in  and  take  a  hite.  In 
answer  to  my  inquiry  as  to  how  he  lost  his  leg,  he  related  the  following 
circumstance: 

"  In  1777,"  said  he,  "  I  was  quartered  at  Belleville,  N.  J  ,  with  a  part  of 
the  army  under  Colonel  Cortlandt.  General  Howe  had  possession  of 
New  York  at  the  same  time,  and  we  every  moment  expected  an  attack 
from  Henry  Clinton.  Delay  made  us  less  vigilant,  and  we  were  sur- 
prised, defeated,  and  many  slain  and  made  prisoners.  We  marched 
from  Newark,  crossing  the  Passaick  and  Hackensack  rivers  in  boats. 
The  road  through  the  swamp  was  a  corduroy,  that  is,  pine  trees  laid 
sid9  by  side. 

"  We  were  confined,"  he  continued,  "  in  this  Sugar  House,  with  hun- 
dreds who  had  entered  before  us.  At  that  time  the  Brick  Meeting 
House,  the  North  Dutch  Church,  the  Protestant  Church  in  Pine  street, 
were  used  as  jails  for  the  prisoners;  while  the  Scotch  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Cedar  street,  now  a  house  of  merchandise,  was  occupied  as 
an  hospital  for  the  Hessian  soldiers,  and  the  Middle  Dutch  Church  for 
a  riding  school  for  their  cavalry.  I  well  remember  it  was  on  a  sabbath 
morning — as  if  in  contempt  of  Him  whose  house  they  were  desecrating 
— that  they  first  commenced  their  riding  operations  in  said  church.  On 
that  same  day  a  vessel  from  England  arrived,  laden  with  powder,  ball, 
and  other  munitions  of  war.  She  dropped  anchor  in  the  East  river; 
opposite  the  foot  of  Maiden  lane.  The  weather  was  warm,  and  a 
thunder  storm  came  on  in  the  afternoon.  The  ship  was  struck  by  a 
thunder  holt  from  Heaven.  Not  a  vestige  of  the  crew,  stores,  or  equip- 
ment was  ever  seen  after  that.  The  good  whigs  and  Americans,  all 
over  the  country,  said  that  the  God  of  battle  had  pointed  that  thunder 
bolt. 

"We  were  crowded  to  excess,"  continued  the  old  veteran;  "our 
provisions  bad,  scanty  and  unwholesome,  anil  the  fever  raged  like  a 
pestilence.  For  many  weeks  the  dead  cart  visited  us  every  morning, 
into  which  from  eight  to  twelve  corpses  were  thrown,  piled  up  like 
sticks  of  wood,  with  the  same  clothes  they  had  worn  for  months,  and  in 
which  they  had  died,  and  often  before  the  body  was  cold.  Thus,  every 
day  expecting  death,  I  made  up  my  mind  to  escape,  or  die  in  the  at- 
tempt. The  yard  was  surrounded  by  a  close  hoard-fence  nine  feet 
high.  I  informed  my  friend  here  of  my  intention,  and  he  readily 
agreed  to  follow  my  plan.  The  day  previous,  we  placed  an  old  barrel, 
which  stood  in  the  yard,  against  the  fence,  as  if  by  accident.  Seeing 
the  barrel  was  not  removed  the  next  day,  we  resolved  to   make  the 


RICHARD  STOCKTON.  147 

attempt  that  afternoon.  The  fence  we  intended  to  scale  was  on  the  side 
of  the  yard  nearest  to  the  East  river;  and  our  intentions  were,  if  we 
succeeded  in  getting  over,  to  make  for  the  river,  seize  the  first  hoat  we 
could  find,  and  push  for  Long  island. 

"  Two  sentries  walked  around  the  building  day  and  night,  always 
meeting  and  passing  each  other  at  the  ends  of  the  prison.  They  were 
only  about  one  minute  out  of  sight,  and  during  this  minute  we  mounted 
the  barrel  and  cleared  the  fence.  I  dropped  upon  a  stone  and  broke  my 
leg,  so  that  I  lay  still  at  the  bottom  of  the  fence  outside.  We  were 
missed  immediately,  and  pursued.  They  stopped  a  moment  to  examine 
my  leg,  and  this  saved  my  friend;  for  by  the  time  they  reached  the 
water's  edge  at  the  foot  of  Maiden  lane,  he  was  stepping  on  shore  at 
Brooklyn,  and  thus  got  clear.  I  was  carried  into  my  old  quarters,  and 
rather  thrown  than  laid  on  the  floor,  under  a  shower  of  curses. 

"Twenty-four  hours  elapsed  ere  I  saw  the  doctor.  My  leg  by  this 
time  had  become  so  much  swollen  that  it  could  not  be  set.  Mortification 
immediately  commenced,  and  ainptutation  soon  followed.  Thus,  being 
disabled  from  serving  either  friend  or  foe,  I  was  liberated,  through 
the  influence  of  a  distant  relative,  a  royalist.  And  now  I  live  as  I  can, 
on  my  pension,  and  with  the  help  of  my  friends." 

In  1812,  Judge  Schuyler,  of  Belleville,  showed  me  a  musket  ball 
which  then  lay  imbedded  in  one  of  his  inside  window  shutters,  which 
was  lodged  there  on  that  fatal  night,  thirty-five  years  previous. 

Among  the  many  who  visited  this  prison  forty  years  ago,  I  one  day 
observed  a  tall,  thin,  but  respectable  looking  gentleman,  on  whose  head 
was  a  cocked-hat — an  article  not  entirely  discarded  in  those  days — 
and  a  few  dozen  snow-white  hairs  gathered  behind  and  tied  with  a  black 
ribband.  On  his  arm  hung — not  a  badge,  or  a  cane,  nor  a  dagger;  but  a 
handsome  young  lady,  who  I  learned  from  him  was  his  daughter,  whom 
he  had  brought  two  hundred  miles  to  view  the  place  of  her  father's  suf- 
ferings. He  walked  erect,  and  had  about  him  something  of  a  military 
air.     Being  strangers,  I  asked  them  in;  and  before  we  parted  I  heard 

THE    HISTORY    OF    THE    PRISONER. 

"When  the  Americans,"  he  began,  "had  possession  of  Fort  Washing- 
ton, on  the  North  river — it  being  the  only  post  they  held  at  that  time  on 
York  island — I  belonged  to  a  company  of  light  infantry  stationed  there 
on  duty.  The  American  army  having  retreated  from  New  York,  Sir 
William  Howe  determined  to  reduce  that  garrison  to  the  subjection  of 
the  British,  if  possible.  Our  detachment  at  that  time  was  short  of  pro- 
visions, and  as  General  Washington  was  at  Fort  Lee,  it  was  a  difficult 
matter  to  supply  ourselves  from  the  distance  without  the  hazard  of 
interception  from  the  enemy.  There  lived  on  the  turnpike,  within  a 
mile  of  our  post,  a  Mr.  J.  B.  This  man  kept  a  store  well  supplied  with 
provisions  and  groceries,  and  contrived  to  keep  himself  neutral,  selling 
to  both  parties;  but  he  was  strongly  suspected  of  favoring  the  British,  by 
giving  them  information,  &c.  Some  of  our  officers  resolved  to  satisfy 
themselves;  and  if  they  found  their  suspicions  just,  they  thought  it 
would  be  no  harm  to  make  a  prize  of  his  stores,  especially  as  the  troops 
were  much  in  need  of  them.  From  prisoners,  and  clothes  stripped  from 
the  slain,  we  had  always  a  supply  of  British  uniforms  for  officers  and 
privates.  Accordingly  three  of  our  officers  put  on  the  red  coats  and 
walked  to  friend  B.'s,  where  they  soon  found  that  the  color  of  their 
uniforms  was  a  passport  to  his  best  affections  and  to  his  best  wines.  As 
the  glass  went  round,  his  loyal  ideas  began  to  shoot  forth  in  royal  toasts 
and  sentiments.     Our  officers  being  now  sure  of  their  man,  1  was  one 


148  RICHARD  STOCKTON. 

of  a  party  who  went  with  wagons  and  every  thing  necessary  to  ease 
him  of  his  stores. 

"  On  the  following  evening,  that  matters  might  pass  quietly,  we  put  on 
the  British  uniforms.  Arriving  at  the  house,  we  informed  Mr.  B.  that 
the  army  were  in  want  of  all  his  store,  but  we  had  no  time  to  make  an 
inventory,  being  afraid  we  might  be  intercepted  by  the  Americans;  but 
he  must*  make  out  his  bill  from  memory,  carry  it  to  the  commissary  at 
New  York,  and  get  his  pay.  The  landlord  looked  rather  serious  at  this 
wholesale  mode  of  doing  business,  but,  as  the  wagons  were  loading  up, 
he  found  remonstrance  would  be  in  vain.  In  less  than  an  hour  his 
whole  stock  of  eatables  and  drinkables  was  on  the  road  to  Fort 
Washington.  By  the  direction  we  took,  he  suspected  the  trick,  and 
alarmed  the  out-posts  of  the  British  army.  In  fifteen  minutes  we  heard 
the  sound  of  their  horses'  hoofs  thundering  along  behind  us;  but  they 
were  too  late,  and  we  got  in  safe.  He  got  his  revenge,  however;  for  in 
three  days  thereafter  our  fortress  was  stormed  by  General  Kniphausen 
on  the  north,  General  Matthews  and  Lord  Cornwallis  on  the  east,  and 
Lords  Percy  and  Sterling  qn  the  south.  So  fierce  and  successful  was 
the  attack,  that  twenty-seven  hundred  of  us  were  taken  prisoners,  and 
numbers  of  them,  with  myself,  marched  to  New  York,  and  lodged  in 
the  Crown  street  [now  Liberty  street]  Sugar  House. 

"It  is  impossible,"  he  continued,  "to  describe  the  horrors  of  that  pri- 
son. It  was  like  a  healthy  man  being  tied  to  a  putrid  carcass.  I  made 
several  attempts  to  escape,  but  always  failed,  and  at  last  began  to  yield 
to  despair.  I  caught  the  jail-fever,  and  was  nigh  unto  death.  At  this 
time  I  became  acquainted  with  a  young  man  among  the  prisoners,  the 
wretchedness  of  whose  lot  tended  by  comparison  to  alleviate  my  own. 
lie  was  brave,  intelligent  and  kind.  Many  a  long  and  weary  night  he 
sat  by  the  side  of  my  bed  of  straw,  consoling  my  sorrows  and  beguiling 
the  dreary  hours  with  his  interesting  history.  He  was  the  only  child  of 
his  wealthy  and  doting  parents,  and  bad  received  a  liberal  education  ;  but 
despite  of  their  cries  and  tears  he  ran  to  the  help  of  his  country  against 
the  mighty.  He  had  never  heard  from  his  parents  since  the  day  he  left 
their  roof.  They  lay  near  to  his  heart,  but  there  was  one  whose  image 
was  graven  there"  as  with  the  point  of  a  diamond.  He  too,  had  the  fever 
in  his  turn;  and  I  then,  as  much  as  in  me  lay,  paid  back  to  him  my  debt 
of  gratitude.     '  My  friend,'  he  would  say  to   me,  '  if  you  survive  this 

deadly  hole,  promise  me  you  will  go  to  the  town  of  II .     Tell  my 

parents,  and  Eliza,  I  perished  here  a  captive,  breathing  the  most  fervent 
prayers  for  their  happiness.'  I  tried  to  cheer  him  by  hope,  feeble  as  it 
was.  'Tell  me  not,'  he  would  add,  'of  the  hopes  of  reunion;  there  is 
only  one  world  where  the  ties  of  affection  will  never  break;  and  there, 
through  the  merits  of  Him  who  was  taken  from  prison  into  judgment, 
for  our  sins,  I  hope  to  meet  them.' 

"This  crisis  over,  he  began  to  revive,  and  in  a  few  days  was  able  to 
walk,  by  leaning  on  my  arm.  We  were  standing  by  one  of  the  narrow 
windows,  inhaling  the  fresh  air,  on  a  certain  day,  when  we  espied  a 
young  woman  trying  to  gain  admittance.  After  parleying  for  some  time, 
ami  placing  something  in  the  hand  of  the  sentinel,  she  was  permitted  to 
enter  this  dreary  abode.  She  was  like  an  angel  among  the  dead.  After 
"•azing  eagerly  around  for  a  moment,  she  Hew  to  the  arms  of  her  recog- 
nized lover,  pale  and  altered  as  he  was.  It  was  Eliza.  The  scene  was 
affecting  in  the  extreme.  And  while  they  wept,  clasped  in  each  other's 
arms,  the  prisoners  within,  and  even  the  iron-hearted  Hessian  at  the 
door,'  caught  the  infection.  She  told  him  she  received  his  letter,  and 
informed  his  parents  of  its  contents ;  but  not  knowing  how  to  return  an 


RICHARD  STOCKTON.  149 

answer  with  safety,  she  had  travelled  through  perils  hy  land  and  water 
to  see  licr  Heury. 

"  This  same  Hessian  sentinel  had  served  us  our  rations  for  months 
past,  and  from  long  intimacy  with  the  prisoners  was  almost  considered 
a  friend.  Eliza,  who  made  her  home  with  a  relative  in  the  city,  was 
daily  admitted,  hy  the  management  of  this  kind-hearted  man;  and  the 
small  nourishing*  notions  she  brought  in  her  pockets,  together  with  the 
light  of  her  countenance,  which  caused  his  to  brighten  whenever  she 
appeared,  wrought  a  cure  as  if  by  miracle.  His  parents  arrived,  but  were 
not  admitted  inside.  In  a  few  days  thereafter,  however,  by  the  help  of 
an  ounce  or  two  of  gold  and  the  good  feelings  of  our  Hessian  friend,  a 
plan  was  concerted  tor  meeting  them.  His  turn  of  duty  was  from  twelve 
till  two  o'clock  that  night.  The  signal,  which  was  to  lock  and  unlock  a 
certain  door  twice,  being  given,  Henry  and  myself  slipped  out,  and 
crept  on  our  hands  and  knees  along  the  back  wall  of  the  Middle  Dutch 
Church,  meeting  the  parents  and  Eliza  by  the  Scotch  Church  in  Cedar 
street.  As  quick  as  thought,  we  were  on  board  a  boat,  with  two  men 
and  four  oars,  on  the  North  river.  Henry  pulled  for  love,  I  for  life,  and 
the  men  for  a  purse ;  so  that  in  thirty  minutes  after  leaving  the  Sugar 
House  we  stood  on  Jersey  shore. 

"In  less  than  a  month  Eliza  was  rewarded  for  all  her  trials  with  the 
heart  and  hand  of  Henry.  They  now  live  not  far  from  Elizabethtown, 
comfortable  and  happy,  with  a  flock  of  olive  plants  around  their  table. 
J  spent  a  day  and  night  at  their  house  last  week,  recounting  our  past 
sorrows  and  present  joys." 

Thus  the  old  man  concluded;  simply  adding  that  he  himself  now  en- 
joyed a  full  share  of  earthly  blessings,  with  a  grateful  heart  to  the  Giver 
of  all  good. 

Such  is  the  unutterable  love  of  woman !  and  yet  how  many  are  there 
who  trifle  with  it  as  a  thing  of  little  value.  How  beautifully  is  it  set 
forth  by  a  modern  writer;  he  says,  "If  there  is  any  act  which  deserves 
deep  and  bitter  condemnation,  it  is  that  of  trifling  with  the  inestimable 
gift  of  woman's  affection.  The  female  heart  may  be  compared  to  a  de- 
licate harp,  over  which  the  breathings  of  earlier  affections  wander,  until 
each  tender  chord  is  awakened  to  tones  of  ineffable  sweetness.  It  is  the 
music  of  the  soul  which  is  thus  called  forth — a  music  sweeter  than  the 
fall  of  fountains  of  the  Houri  in  the  Moslem's  paradise.  But  wo  for  the 
delicate  fashioning  of  that  harp,  if  a  change  pass  over  the  love  which 
first  called  forth  its  hidden  harmonies.  Let  neglect  and  cold  unkindness 
sweep  over  its  delicate  strings,  and  they  break  one  alter  another — 
slowly  perhaps,  but  surely.  Unvisited  and  unrequited  by  the  light  of 
love,  the  soul-like  melody  will  be  hushed  in  the  stricken  bosom — like 
the  mysterious  harmony  of  nature,  before  the  coming  of  the  sunrise.  I 
have  been  wandering  among  the  graves.  I  love  at  all  times  to  do  so. 
I  feel  a  melancholy  not  unallied  to  pleasure  in  communicating  with  the 
resting  place  of  those  who  have  gone  before  me — to  go  forth  among  the 
thronged  tombstones;  rising  from  every  grassy  undulation  like  ghostly 
sentinels  of  the  departed.  And  when  I  kneel  above  the  narrow  mansion 
of  one  whom  I  have  known  and  loved  in  life,  I  feel  a  strange  assurance 
that  the  spirit  of  a  sleeper  is  near  me — a  viewless  and  ministering 
angel.  It  is  a  beautiful  philosophy,  which  has  found  its  way  unsought 
for  and  mysteriously  into  the  silence  of  my  heart;  and  if  it  be  only  a 
dream — the  unreal  image  of  fancy — I  pray  God  that  I  may  never  wake 
from  the  beautiful  illusion." 


150 


THOMAS  STONE. 


^NSHRINED  in  the  memory  of  posterity  is 
the  memory  of  Thomas  Stone.  He  was 
born  at  the  Pointoin  manor,  Maryland,  in 
}]  1743,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-one  commenced 
-the  practice  of  law.  Having  taken  an  active 
part  in  the  movements  preliminary  to  the  call- 
ing of  the  first  continental  congress,  in  1774,  Mary- 
land sent  him  a  delegate  thereto.  In  1775  he  was 
again  elected,  and  in  1776  he  voted  for  and  signed 
the  Declaration  of  Independence.  He  retired  from 
congress  in  1778,  and  entered  the  legislature  of  his 
own  state.  In  1783  he  was  again  elected  to  con- 
gress, and  in  1784  he  was  appointed  president  of 
congress  pro  tempore.  He  died  at  Port  Tobacco 
October  5th,  1787,  in  the  fifty-fifth  year  of  his  age. 
His  manners  were  unobtrusive,  and  his  good  sense 
and  untiring  industry  made  him  a  valuable  member 
of  community. 


GEORGE   TAYLOR. 


151 


£yK/df&rA 


l)EW  men  have  displayed  greater  moral 
courage  than  George  Taylor.  He  was  the 
son  of  a  clergyman.  He  was  born  in  Ire- 
land in  1716,  and  came  to  America  in  1736. 
He  was  a  good  scholar,  but  being  poor,  for 
some  time  after  his  arrival  he  performed  menial 
services  for  a  living.  He  then  became  a  clerk  in 
the  iron  establishment  of  Mr.  Savage  at  Durham, 
in  Pennsylvania.  On  the  death  of  his  employer  he 
married  the  widow,  by  which  he  came  into  the 
possession  of  considerable  property  and  a  thriving 
business.  After  acquiring  a  handsome  fortune,  he 
established  iron  works  on  the  Lehigh,  Northumber- 
land county.  In  1764  he  was  elected  to  the  colonial 
assembly,  where  he  soon  became  a  prominent  actor. 
He  was  a  member  of  the  provincial  assembly  for 
five  consecutive  years.  In  1775  he  was  elected  to 
the  provincial  congress,  and  as  a  member  of  the 
general  congress,  signed  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence on  the  second  of  August,  1776.  He  died, 
much  esteemed,  on  the  23d  of  February,  1781,  aged 
sixty-five  years. 


152 


MATTHEW  THORNTON. 


& 


i.c**>  ijfl/rr<risrfr?i~ 


ALIANT  in  the  cause  of  the  oppressed,  the 


name  of  Matthew  Thornton  stands  out  in 
jjj5£  hold  relief  among  the  great  men  of  his  day. 
j|v  He  was  a  native  of  Ireland.  He  was  born  in 
*  1714,  and  came  with  his  father  to  America 
when  about  three  years  of  age.  After  spend- 
ing some  years  at  Wiscasset,  Maine,  they  removed 
to  Worcester,  Massachusetts,  where  the  son  received 
an  academical  education.  He  subsequently  became 
a  physician,  and  commenced  practice  at  London- 
derry, New  Hampshire,  where  in  a  short  time  he 
became  wealthy. 

In  1745,  as  surgeon,  he  accompanied  the  New 
Hampshire  troops  in  the  expedition  against  Louis- 
burg,  a  strong  French  fortress  at  Cape  Breton.  On 
his  return  Governor  Wcntworth  appointed  him 
colonel  of  militia;  but  early  espousing  the  cause  of 
the  colonists,  he  soon  lost  the  favor  of  that  digni- 
tary. On  the  abdication  of  Governor  Wentworth, 
Dr.  Thornton  was  elected  president;   and  on  the 


MATTHEW  THORNTON.  153 

organization  of  the  provincial  congress  he  was  cho- 
sen speaker  of  the  house.  In  September  1776  he 
was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  continental  congress, 
and  took  his  seat  in  November,  when  he  was  per- 
mitted to  append  his  name  to  the  Declaration  of 
Independence.  Having  served  an  additional  term 
in  congress,  he  withdrew  from  public  life,  with  the 
exception  of  acting  as  judge  of  the  supreme  court 
of  his  state.     This  office  he  also  resigned  in  1782. 

In  1789  he  purchased  a  farm  in  Exeter,  where  as 
a  practical  agriculturist  he  spent  many  years.  In 
his  eighty-ninth  year,  on  the  24th  of  June,  while 
on  a  visit  to  his  daughter,  at  Newburyport,  he  en- 
tered upon  his  immortal  existence.  The  great  se- 
cret of  his  long  life  was  temperance  and  cheer- 
fulness. 


On  the  31st  of  March,  1774,  the  British  parliament  passed  an  act  for 
the  punishment  of  the  people  of  Boston  for  the  destruction  of  tea  in  the 
harbor,  on  the  16th  of  December  previous.  It  provided  for  the  virtual 
and  actual  closing  of  the  port.  All  importations  and  exportation  were 
forbidden,  and  vessels  were  prohibited  from  entering  or  leaving  that 
port.  The  customs,  courts  of  justice,  and  all  government  offices  were 
removed  to  Salem ;  and  on  the  arrival  of  Gov.  Gage,  a  few  days  before 
the  1st  of  June,  (the  time  the  act  was  to  take  effect,)  be  called  a  meeting 
of  the  general  assembly  of  Massachusetts,  at  Salem.  Thus  all  business 
was  suddenly  crushed"  in  Boston,  and  the  inhabitants  were  reduced  to 
great  misery,  overawed  as  they  were  by  large  bodies  of  armed  troops. 
The  other  colonies  deeply  sympathized  with  them,  and  lent  them 
generous  aid.  And,  strange  as  at  may  appear,  the  city  of  London  sub- 
scribed one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  for  the  poor  of  Boston  ! 


20 


154 


GEORGE  WALTON. 


£% 


€^?i/. 


HIS  distinguished  man  was  born  in  Frede- 
rick county,  Virginia,  in  1740,  and  was  of 
humble  parentage.  At  the  age  of  fourteen 
he  was  apprenticed  to  a  carpenter.  He  was 
imbued  with  an  ardent  thirst  for  knowledge, 
but  his  master,  an  ignorant  man,  considering 
George  an  idle  boy,  would  not  allow  him  to  study 
by  day,  nor  lights  to  read  by  night.  But  where 
there  is  a  will,  there  is  generally  a  way,  and  the 
youth  procured  torch  lights,  by  which  he  spent  his 
evenings  in  study.  Thus  in  spite  of  every  obstacle 
he  terminated  his  apprenticeship  with  a  well-stored 
mind.  He  then  moved  to  Georgia,  where  he  be- 
came a  tolerable  lawyer.  In  1776,  the  assembly  of 
Georgia  declaring  for  the  patriotic  cause,  Mr.  Wal- 
ton was  appointed  one  of  the  five  delegates  to  the 
continental  congress.  He  was  a  warm  advocate  of 
the  proposition  of  independence,  and  voted  for  and 
signed  the  Declaration.  On  his  retirement  from 
congress  in  1778,  he  was  appointed  colonel  of  a  re- 


GEORGE  WALTON.  155 

giment  in  his  state,  and  was  with  General  Robert 
Howe,  of  the  American  army,  at  Savannah,  when 
Colonel  Campbell  besieged  it.  He  was  there  seri- 
ously wounded  in  the  thigh,  and  fell  from  his  horse. 
He  was  taken  prisoner,  but  afterwards  exchanged. 
In  October  1779,  he  was  appointed  governor  of  the 
state  of  Georgia.  In  17S0  he  was  elected  to  con- 
gress for  two  years,  after  which  he  was  again  elect- 
ed governor  of  his  state.  He  was  subsequently  ap- 
pointed by  the  legislature  chief-justice  of  the  state, 
which  office  he  retained  until  his  death.  In  1798 
he  was  elected  to  the  senate  of  the  United  States. 
He  died  at  Augusta,  Georgia,  February  2,  1804,  in 
the  sixty- fourth  year  of  his  age. 

What  a  lesson  does  the  life  of  this  excellent  man 
afford  to  the  young  men  of  our  country.  It  shows 
that  there  is  nothing  but  what  is  physically  or 
morally  impossible,  that  can  not  be  accomplished 
by  perseverance.  Who  can  measure  the  value  of 
education!  With  truth  has  it  been  said  that  if  the 
time  shall  ever  come  when  this  mighty  republic 
shall  totter,  when  the  beacon  which  now  rises  in  a 
pillar  of  fire,  a  sign  and  wonder  of  the  world,  shall 
wax  dim,  the  cause  will  be  found  in  the  ignorance 
of  the  people.  If  our  union  is  still  to  continue  to 
cheer  the  hopes  and  animate  the  efforts  of  the  op- 
pressed of  every  nation:  if  our  fields  are  to  be  un- 
trod  by  the  hirelings  of  despotism;  if  long  days  of 
blessedness  are  to  attend  our  country  in  her  career 
of  glory;  if  you  would  have  the  sun  continue  to 
shed  its  unclouded  rays  upon  the  face  of  freemen, 
educate  all  the  children  in  the  land.  This  alone 
startles  the  tyrant  in  his  dream  of  power,  and  rouses 
the  energies  of  an  oppressed  people.  It  was  intel- 
ligence that  reared  the  majestic  columns  of  our 
national  glory;  and  this  alone  can  prevent  them 
from  crumbling  into  ashes. 


156 


WILLIAM  WHIPPLE. 


^ifflff'AS  a  native  of  Kittery  in  New  Hampshire 
ihMfr  m  17:^°-  Having  received  a  common- 
R/f^  school  education,    when  quite  young   he 

f'  went  to  sea,  which  occupation  he  followed  for 
several  years.  In  1759  he  with  his  brother 
entered  into  the  mercantile  business  at  Portsmouth, 
New  Hampshire.  Having  early  espoused  the  cause 
of  the  colonies,  he  soon  became  a  leader  among  the 
opposers  of  British  tyranny.  After  serving  as  one 
of  the  committee  of  safety  in  the  provincial  congress, 
in  1776  he  was  elected  to  the  continental  congress, 
where  in  July  of  that  year  he  voted  for  the  Declara- 
tion of Independence. 

Retiring  from  congress  in  1777,  he  was  appointed 
a  brigadier-general  of  the  New  Hampshire  militia. 
He  was  under  Gates  at  the  capture  of  Burgoyne, 
and  was  one  of  the  officers  who  conducted  the 
British  prisoners  to  Cambridge.  After  participating 
in  the  expedition  against  the  British  in  Rhode  Isl- 
land,  General  Whipple,  with  his  brigade,  returned 
to  New  Hampshire.  In  addition  to  several  other 
offices  of  honor,  in  1782  he  was  appointed  a  judge 


WILLIAM  WHIPPLE.    .  157 

of  the  supreme  court  of  New  Hampshire.  Soon 
afterwards,  while  summing  up  the  arguments  of 
counsel,  he  was  suddenly  attacked  with  a  violent 
palpitation  of  the  heart,  which  on  the  28th  of  No- 
vember, 1785,  while  holding  court,  proved  fatal. 
A  post-mortem  examination,  in  pursuance  of  his 
request,  discovered  that  his  heart  had  become  ossi- 
fied, or  bony. 

Art  is  long  and  life  is  fleeting, 
And  our  hearts,  though  stout  and  brave, 

Still  like  muffled  drums  are  beating 
Funeral  marches  to  the  grave. 

Sensibility  of  the  Heart. — The  heart  was  not  the  sensible  organ 
which  they  would  suppose  it  to  be,  endowed  as  it  was  with  excessive 
irritability. 

The  celebrated  Harvey,  the  discoverer  of  the  circulation  of  the  blood, 
had  an  opportunity  in  his  life-time  of  putting  this  question  to  the  test.  A 
young  nobleman  of  the  name  of  Montgomery,  met  with  an  accident  by 
which  there  were  torn  away,  or  subsequently  came  away  considerable 
portions  of  the  ribs  and  parts  covering  the  left  side  of  the  chest.  This 
individual  miraculously  recovered,  but  with  a  permanent  opening  in  the 
thorax,  exposing  the  left  lung  and  the  heart. 

On  the  case  being  made  known  to  Charles  I.,  he  requested  that  Harvey 
might  have  an  opportunity  of  examining  this  extraordinary  case.  Harvey 
called  upon  the  young  nobleman,  and  stated  what  his  majesty's  pleasure 
was;  and  the  young  nobleman  immediately  consenting,  took  off  his 
clothes  and  exposed  a  large  opening,  into  which  Harvey  could  introduce 
his  hand.  After  expressing  his  surprise,  as  they  might  suppose  he 
would,  at  the  effort  which  nature  had  made  at  reparation,  and  that  life 
could  be  sustained  with  all  this  exposure  of  the  contents  of  the  chest, 
Harvey  took  the  heart  in  his  hand,  and  put  his  finger  on  the  pulse  to 
ascertain  whether  it  was  really  true  that  he  had  that  most  important 
organ  within  his  grasp  and  sphere  of  observation ;  but  finding  the  pulsa- 
tions of  the  heart  and  the  wrist  were  synchronous,  he  was  convinced 
that  it  was  the  heart.  Wonderful  as  it  may  appear,  in  touching  it  there 
was  no  sensibility,  there  was  no  pain ;  the  heart  might  have  been  squeezed 
in  tlra  hand;  and  but  from  the  circumstance  of  touching  the  young 
nobleman's  clothes  on  his  skin,  he  was  not  conscious  that  there  was  any 
pressure  upon  it.  This  proved  that  the  heart  was  not  so  highly  sensitive 
as  then  should  have  been  led  to  think  it  was.  Still,  he  hoped  that  the 
relation  of  this  case  would  not  induce  them  to  suppose  that  this  organ 
could  be  roughly  treated  with  impunity.  He  could  assure  them  it  was 
an  organ  full  of  sympathy.  So  far  as  its  exterior  was  concerned,  it  was 
endowed  with  a  high  degree  of  sensibility ;  and  that  for  the  wisest  pur- 
poses; but  its  interior  enjoyed  it  in  a  most  exquisite  degree.  The  in- 
ternal surface  of  the  heart  immediately  sympathized  with  any  disturbed 
condition  of  the  system.  If  the  held  or  stomach  were  affected,  they 
knew  full  well  that  the  heart  could  very  easily  be  brought  into  intimate 
sympathy  with  it:  therefore  they  were  aware  that  it  was  a  highly  sym- 
pathetic organ. — Turner's  Lectures. 


158 


WILLIAM  WILLIAMS. 


F  Welch  ancestry,  the  parents  of  Mr.  Wil- 
liams emigrated  to  America  in  1630.  The 
father  and  grandfather  of  William  were  both 
clergymen.  The  former  was  for  more  than 
half  a  century  pastor  of  a  congregational  society 
at  Lebanon,  Connecticut,  where  the  subject  of 
this  notice  was  born,  April  18,  1731.  Having  at 
the  age  of  twenty  graduated  at  Harvard  college,  he 
commenced  the  study  of  theology  with  his  father. 
In  1704  he  accompanied  his  relation,  Col.  Ephraim 
Williams,  in  an  expedition  to  Lake  George,  during 
which  the  latter  was  killed.  On  his  return  he 
abandoned  the  study  of  theology,  and  commenced 
merchant.  When  twenty-five  he  was  chosen  town 
clerk,  which  office  he  held  for  nearly  fifty  years.  He 
also  for  nearly  half  a  century  held  a  seat  in  the  Con- 
necticut assembly.  In  1775  he  was  elected  a  dele- 
gate to  the  general  congress.  In  that  body  he  was 
an  ardent  supporter  of  the  proposition  for  independ- 
ence, and  signed  the  Declaration. 


WILLIAM  WILLIAMS.  159 

In  1784  he  withdrew  entirely  from  public  life, 
having  devoted  his  life  and  fortune  to  the  service  of 
his  country,  and  winning  the  love  and  veneration 
of  his  countrymen. 

He  was  married,  in  1772,  to  Mary,  the  daughter 
of  Governor  Trumbull,  of  Connecticut.  In  1810  he 
lost  his  eldest  son.  The  event  gave  a  shock  to  his 
infirm  constitution,  from  which  he  never  recovered. 
He  gradually  wasted  away,  and  a  short  time  pre- 
vious to  his  decease,  he  was  overcome  with  stupor. 
"  Having  laid  perfectly  silent  for  four  days,  he  sud- 
denly called  with  a  clear  voice  upon  his  departed  son  to 
attend  his  dying  father  to  the  world  oj  spirits,  and  then 
expired!"  He  died  August  2, 1811,  aged  eighty-one 
years. 


160  JAMES   WILSON. 


*wAME  from  Scotland  to  America  in  1766. 
*  Being  well  educated,  he  became  an  assist- 
ant teacher  in  the  Philadelphia  college. 
Shortly  afterwards  he  commenced  the  study 
of  the  law,  and  at  the  end  of  two  years,  com- 
menced practice,  first  at  Reading  and  then  at 
Carlisle,  Pennsylvania.  In  1774  he  was  elected  to 
the  provincial  assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the 
next  year  he  was  sent  to  the  general  congress. 
Being  reelected  in  1776,  he  warmly  supported  the 
motion  for  absolute  independence,  and  signed  the 
Declaration.  He  also  served  in  congress  in  1782 
and  1785.  He  was  also  an  active  member  of  the 
convention  that  framed  the  Federal  Constitution. 
He  was  subsequently  appointed  by  President  Wash- 
ington, one  of  the  judges  of  the  supreme  court  of 
the  United  States. 

After  a  life  of  labor  for  the  good  of  his  country, 
while  on  a  judicial  circuit  in  North  Carolina,  he 
died  at  the  house  of  his  friend  Judge  Iredell,  of 
Edenton,  August  8,  1798,  in  the  56th  year  of  his 
age.    He  was  a  true  patriot  and  a  sincere  Christian. 


JOHN  WITHERSPOON. 


161 


ESCENDANT  of  the  great  reformer  John 
Knox,  was  born  near  Edinburgh,  Scotland, 
February  5,  1722.  His  father,  a  worthy- 
minister  of  the  Scottish  church  at  Yester,  took 
?  great  pains  with  the  moral  education  of  his  son, 
whom  he  intended  for  the  ministry.  Having 
gone  through  a  regular  course  of  study,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-two,  John  became  a  licensed  preacher, 
and  was  stationed  at  Beith  in  Scotland,  where  he 
labored  faithfully  for  several  years.  From  thence 
he  removed  to  Paisley,  where  he  became  renowned 
for  his  piety  and  learning.  Accepting  the  appoint- 
ment by  the  unanimous  vote  of  the  trustees,  of  presi- 
dent of  New  Jersey  college,  he  arrived  at  Princeton 
with  his  family  in  August,  1768,  and  on  the  17th 
of  the  same  month  was  inaugurated.  On  the  inva- 
sion of  New  Jersey  by  the  British,  the  college  was 
broken  up.  In  June,  1776,  he  was  elected  a  delegate 
to  the  general  congress,  where  on  the  second  of 
August  he  affixed  his  signature  to  the  Declaration 
of  Independence. 

21 


162  JOHN  WITHERSPOON. 

At  the  restoration  of  peace  in  1783,  Dr.  Wither- 
spoon  retired  from  public  life,  with  the  exception 
of  his  duties  as  a  minister  of  the  gospel.  His  ener- 
gies were  thenceforth  directed  to  the  advancement 
of  the  college  over  which  he  had  presided. 

About  two  years  previous  to  his  death,  he  lost  his 
eye  sight,  yet  he  did  not  relinquish  his  ministerial 
labors;  but  being  guided  into  the  pulpit  would 
preach  with  greater  eloquence  and  fervor  than  ever. 

He  was  twice  married.  By  his  first  wife,  a  Scot- 
tish lady,  he  had  three  sons  and  two  daughters. 

Dr.  Witherspoon  was  a  sound  theological  writer, 
and  as  a  statesman  he  had  but  few  equals.  He 
went  to  his  reward  on  the  10th  of  November,  1794. 

"What  an  attractive,  what  a  delightful,  yet  what 
a  fearful  spot  is  the  pulpit.  That  preacher's  breath 
is  constantly  touching  some  secret  spring,  that  shall 
set  mind  after  mind  in  motion,  whose  pulsations 
shall  be  felt  when  the  scenes  of  earth  are  forgotten. 
It  is  but  a  single  spot,  yet  it  speaks  to  a  thousand 
generations.  The  living  testify  to  its  influence, 
and  generations  of  the  dead  lie  scattered  around  it, 
who  will  one  day  rise  up  and  bear  witness  to  the 
mighty  power  which  it  has  wielded. 


OLIVER  WOLCOTT. 


163 


||j7E  was  born  at  Windsor,  Connecticut,  Nov. 

S§  26,  1726.     His  father  was  a  distinguished 

man,  and  was  at  one  time  governor  of  that 


state. 

Oliver   graduated   at  Yale  college  in  1747. 

In  the  same  year,  having  received  a  captain's 
commission,  he  marched  to  the  northern  frontier 
against  the  French  and  Indians.  On  his  return 
after  the  termination  of  hostilities,  he  gradually  rose 
to  the  rank  of  major-general.  He  studied  medicine 
with  his  uncle  Dr.  Alexander  Wolcott,  after  which 
he  held  several  important  state  offices.  In  the  lat- 
ter part  of  the  year  1775,  Mr.  Wolcott  was  elected 
a  delegate  to  the  second  general  congress,  and  he 
took  his  seat  in  January,  1776.  He  took  a  promi- 
nent part  in  the  debates  ill  favor  of  the  independence 
of  the  American  colonies,  and  after  voting  for,  and 
signing  the  Declaration,  he  returned  home.  He 
was  then  appointed  to  the  command  of  a  detach- 
ment of  militia  destined  for  the  defence  of  New 


164  OLIVER  WOLCOTT. 

York.  After  the  battle  of  Long  Island,  he  resumed 
his  seat  in  congress,  and  was  in  that  body  when 
they  fled  to  Baltimore  at  the  approach  of  the  British 
toward  Philadelphia  in  1776.  In  October,  1777,  he 
aided  in  the  capture  of  Burgoyne  and  his  army, 
after  which  he  again  took  his  seat  in  congress.  In 
1779,  at  the  head  of  a  division  of  Connecticut  mili- 
tia, he  successfully  defended  the  south-western  sea- 
coast  of  that  state  from  the  British.  In  1796  he 
was  chosen  governor  of  Connecticut,  to  which  office 
he  was  reelected  in  1797.  But  on  the  first  of  De- 
cember of  that  year,  his  earthly  career  was  closed. 
He  was  in  the  seventy-second  year  of  his  age. 
There  seldom  lived  a  better  man. 


GEORGE  WYTHE. 


165 


cyrae^y^u^C^ 


EORGE  Wythe  was  born  in  Elizabeth 
county,  Virginia,  in  1726.  His  parents 
being-  wealthy  he  received  a  good  educa- 
tion. Bat  when  about  twenty  years  of  age 
he  was  left  an  orphan,  with  a  large  fortune  at 
his  control.  For  the  following  ten  years  he 
launched  into  the  sea  of  dissipation,  seeking  only 
his  personal  gratification.  At  the  age  of  thirty, 
however,  he  suddenly  changed,  and  resumed  the 
studies  of  his  youth  with  all  the  ardor  of  one  re- 
solved to  make  up  for  lost  time.  But  he  mourned 
over  the  truth  of  the  assertion,  that  "  time  lost  is 
lost  forever." 

Lost  wealth  may  be  restored  by  industry,  the 
wreck  of  health  regained  by  temperance,  forgotten 
knowledge  restored  by  study,  alienated  friendship 
smoothed  into  forgetfulness,  even  forfeited  reputa- 
tion won  by  penitence  and  virtue.  But  who  ever 
again  looked  upon  his  vanished  hours,  recalled  his 
slighted   years,    stamped  them  with  wisdom,   or 


166  GEORGE  WYTHE. 

effaced  from  the  record  of  eternity  the  fearful  blot 
of  wasted  time? 

He  at  once  commenced  the  study  of  the  law, 
and  being-  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1757,  rose  rapidly 
to  eminence.  He  was  not  only  an  able  advocate, 
bat  a  strictly  conscientious  one,  never  knowingly 
engaging  in  an  unjust  cause.  He  was  afterwards 
appointed  chancellor  of  Virginia,  which  high  office 
he  held  during  life.  For  several  years  prior  to  the 
revolution  Mr.  Wythe  was  a  member  of  the  Virginia 
house  of  burgesses.  In  1775  he  was  elected  to  the 
general  congress,  and  was  there  in  1776,  when  his 
colleague  Mr.  Lee  submitted  his  bold  proposition 
for  independence.  He  ably  supported  his  colleague, 
and  voted  for  and  signed  the  Declaration.  After 
holding  humble  offices  in  his  native  state,  he  was 
in  1786  elected  to  the  national  convention  which 
framed  the  Federal  Constitution.  After  its  adoption 
he  was  twice  chosen  United  States  senator  under 
it.  He  died  on  the  8th  of  June,  1800.  His  death 
was  supposed  to  have  been  caused  by  poison  placed 
in  his  food  by  a  near  relative.  That  person  was 
tried  for  the  crime  but  acquitted. 

Mr.  Wythe  was  benevolent  in  the  extreme  and 
of  unimpeachable  character. 


CONCLUDING  REMARKS.  167 


In  closing  these  brief  sketches  of  the  lives  of  the 
noble  band  who  affixed  their  names  to  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  we  can  not  but  be  struck 
at  the  contrast  between  the  years  1776  and  that 
which  has  recently  expired.  The  year  1S48  has 
indeed  been  a  year  of  wonders,  in  which  the  seed 
sown  iu  blood  by  this  infant  republic  more  than  half 
a  century  ago,  has  blossomed  and  borne  fruit  on 
the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  The  events  of  1848 
will  live  upon  the  records  of  history,  and  on  the 
memory  of  man  while  the  earth  shall  last.  A  won- 
derful year  has  been  1848.  Scarce  had  it  dawned, 
when  over  the  ocean  came  the  voice  of  Europe, 
convulsed  with  the  throes  of  liberty  beating  against 
the  dark  and  jagged  rocks  on  which  the  tyrants  for 
ages  built  their  thrones  and  cast  their  nets  of  gyves, 
and  whips,  and  chains,  over  the  prostrate  and 
groaning  nations.  Millions  upon  millions  of  free- 
men, where, 

"Westward  the  star  of  empire  takes  its  way," 

hailed  the  voice,  and  fast  upon  the  footsteps  of  its 
echoes  the  despotisms  of  France,  Italy  and  Ger- 
many, were  shivered  to  the  dust. 

Poland  heard  the  voice  and  was  glad.  She  lifted 
up  her  hands  seared  with  scars,  and  her  trumpets 
brayed,  and  her  banners  flaunted  in  the  face  of  the 
red-handed  robber  who  had  partitioned  her  fields, 
once  the  bulwark  of  Christendom  against  the  lance 
of  the  Saracen.  Poland  heard  the  voice  of  France, 
Italy  and  Germany,  and  shouted  back  to  them  her 
rapture  and  her  joy;  but,  alas,  her  day  was  not  yet 
come.  She  sits  still,  captive  and  bleeding  among 
the  nations.  And  Erin  heard  the  voice  by  the  side 
of  her  lakes  and  fountains,  upon  her  hills  and  in  her 
valleys,  and  the  Celt-children  of  bondage,  stricken 
and  famished  upon  the  richest  soil  under  Heaven, 


1G8  CONCLUDING  REMARKS. 

looked  out  upon  the  lairs  of  their  oppressors,  and 
cried,  Woe  is  unto  us  no  longer;  our  day  of  deli- 
verance is  come  !  Erin  heard  it,  and  her  sons  lifted 
the  brand,  but  their  arms  were  skeleton  and 
wasted,  and  when  the  tyrant  came  upon  them  with 
his  fattened  legions  glistening  in  steel,  which  the 
sweat  and  blood  of  Erin  had  forged  and  polished, 
they  were  strewn  and  scattered  like  chaff  before 
the  wind.  Erin's  day  was  not  come.  Her  prophets 
preached  a  gospel  of  peace  which  should  have  been 
a  gospel  of  blood,  and  gaunter,  paler  and  more  hag- 
gard than  ever,  the  Gem  Isle  sits  on  the  place  of 
her  graves,  the  solemn  wind  moaning  through  her 
broken  harp-strings  to  the  solemn  music  of  the 
ocean.  Patience  and  faith,  and  a  speedy  deliver- 
ance be  with  them,  twin  sisters  in  desolation,  Po- 
land and  Erin !  Other  years,  not  distant,  shall  wipe 
from  their  brows  the  Saxon  and  Sclave  bond-mark 
of  slaves. 

Nevertheless,  1848  has  done  bravely.  She  has 
opened  up  a  crusade  against  kings  and  tyrants, 
which  shall  not  end  until  every  soul  on  this  round 
earth  drinks  of  the  fountain  of  freedom.  Wonder- 
ful year!  The  Russian  shall  ponder  over  it  among 
his  ice-palaces;  the  Turk,  Arab,  Persian  and  Tartar, 
shall  speak  of  it  with  marvel  and  terror,  and  as  fresh 
shouts  rise  with  the  awakening  spring,  from  Alp 
and  Appenine,  from  the  bright  Shannon  to  the  ar- 
rowy Rhone,  the  remnant  of  despotic  power  shall 
tremble  and  pass  away.  Eighteen  hundred  and 
forty-eight  was  a  year  of  jubilee  to  the  nations.  It 
saw  the  old  world  dissolving  her  bonds,  while  the 
new,  in  peace,  freedom,  wealth  and  power,  ex- 
tended her. hand  and  voice  in  encouragement  and 
brotherhood.  The  earth  will  never  behold  a  prouder 
year — never  behold  a  year  fraught  with  such  bless- 
ing and  promise  to  mankind. 


'^ 


^«^      4/6<fr#*t7  #*>- 


THE  PRESIDENTS.^ 


JAMES  MADISON. 

'R.  Madison,  the  fourth  president  of  the 
United  States,  was  born  on  the  Rappa- 
hannock river,  Orange  county,  Virginia,  on 
The  16th  of  March,  1751.  His  family  were  of 
Welsh  extraction,  and  were  among  the  earlier 
emigrants  to  Virginia.  Having  gone  through 
a  preparatory  course  of  study,  Mr.  Madison,  at  the 
age  of  seventeen,  entered  Princeton  college,  New 
Jersey,  where  he  graduated  with  honor  in  1771. 
After  remaining  at  college  a  year  after  he  graduated, 
he  returned  to  his  native  state  and  commenced  the 
practice  of  law.  But  the  exigencies  of  the  times 
soon  drew  him  into  active  public  life.  In  1776  he 
was  elected  a  member  of  the  general  assembly  of 
Virginia,  and  in  1778  he  was  appointed  one  of  the 
executive  council  of  the  state.  On  the  following 
year  he  was  elected  a  delegate  to  the  continental 
congress,  in  which  body  he  was  an  active  member 
until  1784.  In  January,  1786,  he  was  appointed 
a  commissioner  to  the  convention  at  Annapolis  to 
amend  the  articles  of  confederation.  He  was  also 
a  member  of  the  convention  called  for  a  similar 
purpose  on  the  year  following,  and  he  was  among 
the  leading  debaters.  The  copious  notes  which  he 
took  of  the  proceedings  of  this  convention,  have 
since  been  purchased  and  published  by  government, 
under  the  title  of  "  The  Madison  Papers." 

A  convention   being   called  in  Virginia   for   the 
purpose  of  considering   the  new  constitution   and 

*  For  sketches  of  the  first  three  presidents,  see  pp.  9,  47,  96* 

22 


170  JAMES    MADISON. 

devising  a  more  uniform  commercial  system,  Mr. 
Madison  was  elected  a  member  thereof.  After  a 
warm  opposition,  the  question  in  favor  of  adoption 
was  carried  by  a  vote  of  eighty-nine  to  seventy-nine. 
Mr.  Madison  voting  of  course  in  the  affirmative. 

In  1789  Mr.  Madison  was  elected  to  congress,  and 
was  an  active  member  of  that  body  during  the 
whole  of  Washington's  administration. 

In  1794  he  was  married  to  Mrs.  Dolly  Payne  Todd, 
a  young  widow  of  twenty-three. 

Having  resigned  his  seat  in  congress,  and  being 
elected  to  the  Virginia  assembly,  in  1797  Mr.  Madi- 
son made  his  famous  report  against  the  alien  and 
sedition  laws  of  Mr.  Adams. 

Mr.  Madison,  having  through  the  whole  of  Mr. 
Jefferson's  administration,  held  the  office  of  secre- 
tary of  state,  was  in  1808  elected  president  of  the 
United  States.  He  was  inaugurated  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1809,  and  he  retained  a  portion  of  Mr.  Jef- 
ferson's cabinet. 

During  the  first  session  of  the  eleventh  congress, 
which  opened  in  May,  the  British  minister  at  AVash- 
ington,  Mr.  Erskine,  made  overtures  for  the  repeal 
of  the  non-intercourse  law,  promising  the  reversal 
of  the  British  orders  in  council.  His  government, 
however,  refusing  to  sanction  the  act,  the  non- 
intercourse  law  was  revived  in  full  force.  This 
created  the  most  intense  excitement  among  the 
people,  who  loudly  demanded  a  declaration  of  war 
with  England. 

In  the  spring  of  1810,  Napoleon  issued  a  decree 
providing  that  all  United  States  vessels  which  had 
entered  French  ports  since  the  20th  of  March,  1S08, 
should  be  declared  forfeit,  and  sold  for  the  benefit 
of  the  French  treasury.  This  being  avowedly  issued 
as  a  retaliation  of  our  non-intercourse  act,  the  French 
privateers  constantly  depredated  upon  our  commerce. 

In  May,  congress  passed  a  new  non-intercourse 
act,  declaring  that  when  either  the  British  or  French 


JAMES    MADISON.  171 

government  should  repeal  its  orders  or  decrees,  and 
the  other  did  not,  the  United  States  would  repeal 
the  act  so  far  as  it  applied  to  the  government  so 
repealing.  France  reciprocated  the  movement,  but 
the  British  cabinet  would  not,  and  American  ves- 
sels continued  to  be  seized  and  sold,  and  American 
seamen  pressed  into  the  British  service.* 

After  years  of  ineffectual  negotiation  with  both 
England  and  France,  respecting  their  orders  and 
decrees,  the  president  waived  his  decided  opposition 
to  war  measures,  and,  by  the  advice  of  Mr.  Clay 
and  other  leading  friends,  he  recommended  strong 
measures  toward  Great  Britain.  Bills  were  accord- 
ingly passed  for  augmenting  the  army  and  navy, 
and  for  giving  the  president  extraordinary  powers. 

Mr.  Madison  being  again  velected  to  the  presi- 
dency, was  inaugurated  on  the  4th  of  March,  1812. 

Congress  having  passed  an  act  declaring  war 
against  Great  Britain,  it  was  approved  by  Mr.  Madi- 
son on  the  18th  of  June,  1812,  and  he  issued  his 
proclamation  accordingly.  Of  the  thrilling  events 
and  glorious  termination  of  that  war,  it  is  unneces- 
sary to  speak. 

At  the  expiration  of  his  second  presidential  term 
on  the  3d  of  March,  1817,  Mr.  Madison  retired  to 
his  seat  at  Montpelier,  Orange  county,  Virginia, 
where  the  evening  of  life  was  spent  in  the  peaceful 
pursuits  of  agriculture.  He  died  on  the  28th  of 
June,  1836,  aged  eighty-five  years. 

"Mr.  Madison  was  of  small  stature,  and  a  little 
disposed  to  corpulency.  The  top  of  his  head  was 
bald,  and  he  usually  had  his  hair  powdered.  He 
generally  dressed  in  black.  His  manners  were 
modest  and  retiring,  and  in  conversation  he  was 
pleasing  and  instructive.  As  a  polished  writer  he 
had  few  equals;  and  the  part  he  bore  in  framing 
the  constitution,  and  its  subsequent  support,  obtain- 
ed for  him  the  title  of  Father  of  the  Constitution." 

*  Lossing. 


172  DOLLY   PAYNE   MADISON. 


DOLLY  PAYNE  MADISON. 

"  Shall  I  ever  prow  old?''  said  a  fair  little  girl 

As  she  stood  hy  a  fond  mother's  knee, 
And  tossed  from  her  forehead  the  clustering  curls, 

And  turned  up  her  bonuy  blue  e'e. 

"Will  my  face  be  all  wrinkled  with  sorrow  and  care, 

And  my  pretty  brown  tresses  turn  white? 
Oh  mother,  I'm  sure  that  I  never  could  bear 

To  become  such  a  sad  looking  sight!" 

"  Oh,  yes,  my  dear  child !"  and  the  tears  gathered  fast 

As  she  spoke,  in  the  fond  mother's  eye — 
"  The  charms  we  so  prize  in  our  youth  can  not  last, 

And  wrinkles  and  age  will  draw  nigh! 

"But  the  youth  of  the  heart" — and  the  mother's  dark  eye 

Grew  soft  as  the  eye  of  a  fawn — 
"  May  live  in  its  greenness  when  age  hath  come  nigh, 

And  the  rose  and  the  lily  are  gone. 

7,N  Virginia  the  parents  of  Dolly  Payne,  who 
were  natives  of  that  state,  ranked  among  the 
most  respectable  citizens.  Whilst  on  a  visit 
some  of  her  friends  in  North  Carolina,  Mrs. 
lyne  gave  birth  to  her  eldest  daughter,  the 
subject  of  this  memoir,  who,  although  una- 
voidably born  in  another  stale,  claims  the  title,  so 
dear  to  all  who  possess  it,  of  being  a  Virginian.  In 
disposition  she  is  abundantly  so,  being  imbued  by 
nature  with  all  that  amiable  frankness  and  gene- 
rosity which  are  the  distinguishing  traits  of  the  Vir- 
ginia character. 

Soon  after  their  marriage,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Payne 
joined  the  society  of  Friends,  manumitted  their 
slaves,  and  removed  to  Pennsylvania. 

The  subject  of  this  memoir  was  educated  in 
Philadelphia,  according  to  the  strict  system  of  the 
society  to  which  her  family  belonged.  At  an  early 
age  she  was  married  to  Mr.  Todd,  a  young  lawyer 
of  Philadelphia,  and  also  a  member  of  the  society 
of  Friends.     During  his  life  she  continued  to  live  in 


DOLLY   PAYNE    MADISON.  173 

the  simplicity  and  seclusion  of  that  sect.  Even  then 
though  her  beauty,  which  afterwards  became  so 
celebrated,  began  to  attract  attention.  Soon,  how- 
ever, she  was  left  a  widow  with  an  infant  son. 
Soon  after  the  death  of  her  husband,  her  father  also 
being  dead,  she  returned  to  live  with  her  remaining 
parent,  who  had  fixed  her  residence  in  Philadelphia. 

The  personal  charms  of  the  young  widow,  united 
as  they  were  with  manners  frank,  cordial  and  gay, 
caused  her  to  become  a  general  favorite;  an  object 
not  only  of  admiration,  but  of  serious  and  devoted 
attachment.  Among  many  admirers,  equally  dis- 
tinguished for  their  rank  and  talent,  who  sued  for 
her  favor,  she  gave  preference  to  Mr.  Madison,  then 
one  of  the  most  conspicuous  and  respectable  mem- 
bers of  congress;  and  in  the  year  1794  she  became 
the  wife  of  that  truly  great  man.  This  marriage 
proved  highly  beneficial  to  Mr.  Madison,  for  the 
strong  mind  and  pleasing  manners  of  his  wife  were 
essential  aids  to  him  while  he  was  the  chief  magis- 
trate of  the  nation.  When  General  Ross  with  four 
thousand  men  marched  against  Washington  city, 
President  Madison  and  his  cabinet  narrowly  es- 
caped capture  by  flight.  It  is  said  that  the  pre- 
servation of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and 
other  valuable  papers,  was  owing  to  the  courage  of 
Mrs.  Madison,  who  carried  them  away  with  her 
own  hands. 

When  the  detachment  of  the  British  army  sent 
out  to  destroy  Mr.  Madison's  house,  entered  his 
dining-parlor,  they  found  a  dinner  table  spread,  and 
covers  laid  for  forty  guests.  Several  kinds  of  wine, 
in  handsome  cut  glass  decanters,  were  cooling  on 
the  side-board ;  plate-holders  stood  by  the  fire-place, 
filled  with  dishes  and  plates;  knives,  forks  and 
spoons,  were  arranged  for  immediate  use;  every 
thing,  in  short,  was  ready  for  the  entertainment  of 
a  ceremonious  party.  Such  were  the  arrangements 
in  the  dining-room,  while  in  the  kitchen  were  others 


174  DOLLY  PAYNE  MADISON. 

answerable  to  them  in  every  respect.  Spits  loaded 
with  joints  of  various  sorts  turned  before  the  fire; 
pots,  sauce-pans,  and  other  culinary  utensils,  stood 
upon  the  grate;  and  all  the  other  requisites  for  an 
elegant  and  substantial  repast,  were  in  the  exact 
state  which  indicated  that  they  had  been  lately 
and  precipitately  abandoned.  The  reader  may 
easily  believe  that  these  preparations  were  beheld 
by  a  party  of  hungry  soldiers  with  no  indifferent  eye. 
An  elegant  dinner,  although  considerably  over- 
dressed, was  a  luxury  to  which  few  of  them,  at  least 
for  some  time  back,  had  been  accustomed ;  and 
which,  after  the  dangers  and  fatigues  of  the  day, 
appeared  peculiarly  inviting.  They  sat  down  to  it, 
therefore,  not  indeed  in  the  most  orderly  manner, 
but  with  countenances  which  would  not  have  dis- 
graced a  party  of  alderman  at  a  civic  feast;  and, 
having  satisfied  their  appetites  with  fewer  com- 
plaints than  would  have  probably  escaped  their 
rival  gourmands,  and  partaken  pretty  freely  of  the 
wines,  they  finished  by  setting  fire  to  the  house 
which  had  so  liberally  entertained  them. 

Mrs.  M.  still  survives  her  honored  husband,  and  re- 
sides chiefly  at  Washington,  where  her  society  is 
sought  by  all  the  distinguished  visitors  to  the  me- 
tropolis. 


d&^yvx*?  ^2e^*^<^ 


JAMES    MONROE.  175 


JAMES  MONROE. 


,HE  fifth  president  of  the  United  States,  was 
born  in  the  county  of  Westmoreland,  Vir- 
ginia, on  the  2d  of  April,  1759.     His  parents 
were  both  descended  from  one  of  the  earliest 

#*  and  most   respectable  families   of  that   state. 

^  The  early  youth  of  James  was  spent  amid  the 
excitements  which  intervened  between  the  passage 
of  the  stamp  act,  and  the  breaking  out  of  the  revo- 
lution. Fired  by  the  stirring  scenes  around  him, 
at  the  age  of  eighteen,  he  left  William  and  Mary 
college,  and  joined  the  continental  army  under 
Washington.  He  was  present  at  the  skirmish  at 
Harlem  on  York  island,  and  at  the  battle  of  White 
Plains.  At  Trenton  he  received  a  bullet  wound 
which  scarred  him  for  life.  For  his  brave  conduct 
he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  captain  of  infantry. 
In  1777  and  1778  he  acted  as  aid  to  Lord  Stirling, 
and  behaved  bravely  at  the  battles  of  Brandywine, 
Germantown  and  Monmouth.  He  subsequently 
commenced  the  study  of  law  under  Mr.  Jefferson. 
At  a  later  period,  when  invasion  was  threatened, 
Captain  Monroe  was  found  among  the  volunteers, 
and  performed  important  services  to  his  country. 

In  1782,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Virginia 
legislature,  and  was  soon  after  chosen  by  that  hody 
a  member  of  the  executive  council.  The  following 
year,  although  only  twenty-five  years  of  age,  he  was 
chosen  a  delegate  to  represent  Virginia  in  the  con- 
tinental congress.  He  was  present  when  Washing- 
ton surrendered  his  commission  to  that  body;  and 
he  continued  to  represent  his  state  there  until  1786. 
During  his  attendance  at  New  York  as  a  member 
of  congress,  he  became  acquainted  with  and  mar- 
ried the  daughter  of  Mr.  L.  Kortright,  celebrated  in 
the  fashionable  circles  of  London  and  Paris  for  her 


176  JAMES   MONROE. 

beauty  and    accomplishments.     She  was   a  most 
estimable  woman,  in  both  public  and  private  life. 

In  1785,  he  took  the  incipient  step  in  congress 
toward  the  framing  of  a  new  constitution,  by  moving 
to  invest  congress  with  the  power  of  regulating 
trade  and  of  levying  an  import-duty.  These  move- 
ments finally  brought  about  the  convention  to  re- 
vise the  articles  of  confederation. 

"According  to  a  rule  of  the  old  continental  con- 
gress, a  member  of  that  body  was  ineligible  for  a 
second  term;  and  when,  in  1786,  Mr.  Monroe's 
term  expired,  he  retired  to  Fredericksburg,  with  a 
view  of  practising  law.  But  he  was  soon  after 
elected  a  member  of  the  Virginia  legislature;  and 
in  1788,  he  was  chosen  a  delegate  to  the  state  con- 
vention to  decide  upon  the  adoption  of  the  consti- 
tution. Not  being  satisfied  with  that  instrument, 
although  conscious  of  the  inefficiency  of  the  articles 
of  confederation,  he  opposed  its  adoption.  In  1789, 
he  was  elected  to  a  seat  in  the  senate  of  the  United 
States,  in  which  station  he  continued  until  1794, 
always  acting  with  the  anti-federalists,  and  opposed 
to  Washington's  administration. 

In  J  794,  he  was  appointed  to  succeed  Governeur 
Morris  as  minister  to  France,  but  not  conforming 
to  Washington's  views,  he  was  recalled  in  1796. 
In  1799,  he  was  elected  governor  of  Virginia,  and 
served  the  constitutional  term  of  three  years.  In 
1803,  Mr.  Jefferson  appointed  him  envoy  extraor- 
dinary to  France,  to  act  with  Mr.  Livingston,  and 
he  was  a  party  to  the  treaty  for  the  cession  and 
purchase  of  Louisiana.  Disputes  concerning  bound- 
aries having  occurred  with  Spain,  he  went  to  Mad- 
rid to  settle  the  difficulty,  but  he  was  unsuccessful. 
In  1807,  he  and  Mr.  Pinckney  negotiated  a  treaty 
with  Great  Britain,  but  it  proved  unsatisfactory, 
and  was  never  ratified ;  and  during  the  year  he 
returned  to  the  United  States." 

In  1811,  Mr.  Monroe  was  again  elected  governor 


JAMES   MONROE.  177 

of  Virginia,  but  was  soon  after  appointed  by  Mr. 
Madison  secretary  of  state,  which  office  he  held 
during  Madison's  administration.  After  the  capture 
of  Washington,  he  took  charge  of  the  war  depart- 
ment (still  remaining  secretary  of  state),  and  in  that 
position  he  exhibited  great  energy. 

Mr.  Monroe  was  elected  president  of  the  United 
States  in  1816,  and  was  inaugurated  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1817.  Impressed  with  the  necessity  of 
frontier  defences,  he  started  in  May  on  a  tour  of 
inspection  —  extending  eastward  as  far  as  Portland,' 
in  Maine,  northward  to  the  St.  Lawrence,  and  west- 
ward to  Detroit.  He  was  absent  about  six  months, 
and  was  every  Avhere  greeted  with  distinguished 
honors. 

In  1820,  Mr.  Monroe  was  reelected  president  with 
great  unanimity. 

On  the  3d  of  March,  1825,  Mr.  Monroe  retired 
from  the  presidential  chair,  his  administration  hav- 
ing been  an  eminently  harmonious  and  prosperous 
one.  He  retired  to  his  residence  in  Loudon  county, 
in  Virginia,  where  he  resided  until  1831,  when  he 
removed  to  the  city  of  New  York  and  took  up  his 
residence  with  his  son-in-law,  Samuel  L.  Gouver- 
neur.  He  was  soon  after  seized  with  severe  illness; 
and  on  the  4th  of  July,  1831,  he  expired,  in  the 
seventy-second  year  of  his  age,  making  the  third 
president  who  had  died  on  the  national  anniversary. 

Mr.  Monroe  was  about  six  feet  high  and  well 
formed,  with  light  complexion  and  blue  eyes. 
Honesty,  firmness,  and  prudence,  rather  than  supe- 
rior intellect,  were  stamped  upon  his  countenance. 
He  was  industrious  and  indefatigable  in  labor, 
warm  in  his  friendships,  and  in  manners  was  a 
good  specimen  of  the  old  Virginia  gentleman.  His 
long  life  was  honorable  to  himself  and  useful  to  his 
country.* 

*  Lossing. 

23 


178  JOHN    QUINCY   ADAMS. 


JOHN  QUINCY  ADAMS. 

OURTEEN  years  after  the  May  Flower 
anchored  by  Plymouth  rock,  another  ves- 
sel, filled  with  no  less  distinguished  adven- 
turers, touched  upon  the  New  England  coast, 
^  near  Boston.  In  the  former  came  John  Alden, 
one  of  the  ancestors  of  John  Quincy  Adams; 
in  the  latter,  Henry  Adams,  with  a  large  family, 
the  first  of  the  name  that  came  to  this  country.* 

They  settled  at  Mount  Wollaston,  which  was,  at 
first,  annexed  to  Boston  in  1634,  for  the  special 
benefit  of  the  new  colonists,  but  afterwards  in  1640, 
it  became  incorporated  as  a  separate  town,  by  the 
name  of  Braintree.  Henry  Adams,  junior,  was  for 
several  years  town  clerk,  and  the  first  of  the  family 
elected  to  a  civil  office  in  America. 

His  youngest  brother,  Joseph,  who  resided  in  the 
same  town,  left  ten  children.  One  of  them,  bearing 
the  paternal  name,  married  the  grand-daughter  of 
John  Alden,  of  the  Plymouth  colony.  His  second 
son  was  the  father  of  John  Adams,  who  succeeded 
Washington  as  president  of  the  United  States,  and 
who  was  the  father  of  the  distinguished  man  whose 
name  stands  at  the  head  of  this  page. 

John  Quincy  Adams  was,  therefore,  a  descendant 
in  the  fifth  generation  of  Henry  Adams,  who  was 
driven  by  persecution  from  Devonshire,  England, 
in  1634,  and  among  the  earliest  colonists  of  New 
England.  On  his  mother's  side,  as  above  shown, 
lie  was  a  descendant  of  John  Alden  of  the  May 
Flower. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  conceive  of  events  better 
suited  to  produce  a  great  man,  than  conspired  in 
the  ancestry,  birth  and  education  of  the  subject  of 
this  brief  sketch. 

*  Literary  Magazine. 


3.  a, 


JOHN   QUINCY    ADAMS.  179 

Born  in  the  summer  of  1767,  at  Braintree,  Massa- 
chusetts, of  illustrious  parents,  and  of  ancestors 
alike  venerable  and  distinguished  for  the  common 
pursuit  of  freedom,  at  a  period  when  liberty  and 
bondage  were  each  struggling  for  the  mastery  on 
the  soil  of  New  England,  he  early  imbibed  that 
liberal  and  patriotic  spirit,  for  which  he  was  cele- 
brated in  mature  age. 

Blessed  as  he  was  with  a  distinguished  father,  it 
was  his  good  fortune  also  to  enjoy  the  early  instruc- 
tions of  a  most  accomplished  mother. 

Such  were  the  benign  influences  which  guarded 
his  childhood.  He  grew  up  at  home,  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  every  advantage  which  wealth  could  be- 
stow, until  the  age  of  eleven,  when  he  accompanied 
his  father  to  France.  He  remained  there  eighteen 
months,  enjoying,  at  that  early  age,  the  advantages 
of  a  foreign  court,  together  with  the  special  favor 
and  friendship  of  Doctor  Franklin.  Though  at  this 
time  but  a  mere  boy,  he  possessed  an  observing 
mind,  and  profited  much  by  what  he  saw  and  heard. 
He  returned  home  with  his  father  in  the  summer 
of  1779.  In  November  of  the  same  year  he  again 
sailed  for  France  with  his  father,  in  the  French 
frigate  La  Sensible,  which,  having  sprung  a  leak, 
was  obliged  to  put  in  to  port  at  Ferrol,  in  Spain. 
Thence  they  journeyed  by  land,  and  reached  Paris 
in  February,  1780.  He  was  there  put  to  school  for 
three  or  four  months,  and  afterwards  enjoyed  the 
advantages  of  a  public  school  at  Amsterdam,  and 
the  university  of  Leyden.  During  this  time  he 
made  great  proficiency  in  the  classics,  besides  ac- 
quiring a  good  knowledge  of  French  and  German. 
In  the  summer  of  1781  he  went  as  private  secre- 
tary of  Francis  Dana,  in  his  mission  to  the  court  of 
the  empress  of  Russia.  After  remaining  there  four- 
teen months,  he  set  out  on  his  return,  unattended, 
and  journeyed  through  Sweden,  Denmark,  Ham- 
burg and  Bremen,  to  Holland,  where  he  arrived  in 


180  JOHN    QUINCY   ADAMS. 

April,  1783,  and  was  in  charge  of  Mr.  Dumas,  an 
agent  of  the  United  States,  at  the  Hague,  till  the 
arrival  of  his  father  in  July.  From  this  time  till 
the  spring  of  1785,  he  continued  with  his  father, 
who  was  engaged  in  negotiating  for  his  country, 
chiefly  in  England,  Holland  and  France.  He  then 
returned  and  entered  the  junior  class  at  Harvard 
college,  where  in  June,  1787,  he  graduated  with 
high  reputation. 

His  attention  was  now  directed  to  a  course  of 
law.  He  studied  with  Chief  Justice  Parsons,  at 
Newburyport.  While  there  he  had  the  honor  of 
preparing  an  address,  to  be  delivered  by  Mr.  Parsons, 
expressive  of  the  public  sentiment,  on  a  visit  of 
General  Washington  to  that  place. 

Mr.  Adams  entered  upon  his  professional  duties 
in  Boston,  and  meanwhile  employed  much  of  his 
leisure  in  writing  upon  the  great  political  topics  of 
the  day.  No  man  was  better  qualified  to  throw 
light  upon  difficult  subjects,  whether  political,  his- 
torical or  literary.  He  had  enriched  his  mind  at 
foreign  universities,  studied  the  various  workings 
of  the  human  heart,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and 
added  to  a  collegiate  course  the  fine  discipline  of  a 
thorough  acquaintance  with  the  legal  protession. 
His  political  essays  accordingly  soon  attracted  wide 
attention.  They  were  alike  distinguished  for  beauty 
of  diction  and  strength  of  argument.  The  writings 
which  brought  him  more  specially  into  notice,  and 
established  him  as  a  statesman  and  politician,  were 
his  essays  upon  neutrality  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  in  respect  to  the  war  of  1793,  between  Eng- 
land and  France.  It  was  claimed  by  many  that 
the  treaty  of  alliance  of  1778,  obligated  us  to  join 
in  the  wars  of  France.  The  French  minister,  Mr. 
Genet,  occasioned  great  excitement  in  the  public 
mind  by  his  flaming  appeals  to  our  government  for 
aid.  Mr.  Adams  opposed  this  sentiment,  and  main- 
tained that  our  policy  should  be  strict  neutrality  in 


JOHN    QUINCY    ADAMS.  181 

that  war;  that  it  was  both  the  duty  and  for  the 
interest  of  the  United  States,  not  to  take  part  in  it. 
These  papers  were  read  and  admired  by  Washing- 
ton, who,  not  knowing  their  author,  as  they  appeared 
under  a  fictitious  title,  made  special  effort  to  ascer- 
tain his  name.  They  were  attributed  by  him  to 
John  Adams,  his  father,  as  they  bore  evidence  of  a 
maturity  of  mind  beyond  what  is  common  to  young 
men  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven.  The  justice  of 
his  views  was  shortly  sanctioned  by  a  proclamation 
of  neutrality  by  Washington.  Soon  after  he  was 
recommended  to  Washington,  by  Thomas  Jefferson, 
as  a  fit  person  to  engage  in  the  public  services  of 
his  country.  Mr.  Jefferson  had  seen  him  in  France, 
while  a  boy,  and  formed  a  high  opinion  of  his 
talents,  both  native  and  acquired.  Being  thus 
honorably  introduced  to  Washington's  notice,  and 
having  previously  commended  himself  by  his  writ- 
ings, he  was  shortly  after  appointed  by  him  minister 
resident  to  the  Netherlands.  During  his  residence 
there  he  became  of  great  public  service,  not  only 
by  a  faithful  discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  mission, 
but  by  a  careful  study  of  the  leading  events  of  other 
governments  that  came  under  his  notice.  His 
correspondence  at  that  time  with  our  government 
was  of  the  highest  importance. 

With  Washington's  approval  he  was  continued 
in  the  important  office  of  minister  plenipotentiary, 
and  sent  by  his  father  to  Berlin  instead  of  Portugal, 
where  he  had  been  commissioned  by  Washington, 
just  before  he  closed  his  administration.  He 
resided  there  between  three  and  four  years,  and 
having  effected  with  the  government  of  Prussia  an 
important  treaty  of  commerce  and  renewed  the 
treaty  with  Sweden,  he  returned  to  Philadelphia 
early  in  the  autumn  of  1801.  During  the  seven 
years  which  he  spent  in  the  service  of  his  country 
abroad,  his  influence  had  become  more  and  more 
felt  at  home.     He  had  shown  himself  in  every  way 


132  JOHN   QUINCY    ADAMS. 

competent  to  discharge  the  important  duties  of  his 
foreign  commission,  had  enriched  his  mind  with 
various  learning,  published  letters  of  his  travels  in 
Silesia  and  other  provinces,  and  conciliated  iavor 
toward  our  government  wherever  he  went. 

Shortly  after  his  return,  the  public  estimation  in 
which  he  was  held  at  home  was  manifested  by  his 
being  elected  to  the  senate  of  Massachusetts,  from 
Boston.  The  next  year,  1603,  he  was  elected  a 
senator  of  the  United  States. 

After  his  resignation  in  1S06,  he  took  the  profes- 
sorship of  rhetoric,  to  which  he  had  been  previously 
elected,  in  Harvard  college.  He  drew  crowds  to 
listen  to  the  eloquence  and  learning  displayed  in 
his  lectures.  As  a  proof  of  their  value,  they  were 
published  by  request,  and  are  now  read  with  plea- 
sure and  profit.  Mr.  Adams  was  not  long  suffered 
to  hold  a  professorship.  His  country  needed  more 
his  distinguished  services.  President  Madison,  with 
the  approval  of  the  senate,  appointed  him,  in  1«09, 
as  first  minister  plenipotentiary  to  the  court  of  the 
emperor  of  Russia.  No  man  was  better  qualified 
to  go  upon  this  important  mission.  Twenty-eight 
years  before,  he  had  become  acquainted  with  the 
country  while  secretary  to  Mr.  Dana.  He  had  now 
added  to  age,  refined  learning  and  profound  states- 
manship. This  gave  him  easy  access  to  the  learned 
emperor,  Alexander,  who  is  said  to  have  admitted 
him  to  an  intimacy  rarely  enjoyed  with  despotic 
monarchs,  by  their  own  ministers. 

In  1814  Mr.  Madison  appointed  Mr.  Adams  com- 
missioner to  negotiate  a  treaty  of  peace  between 
this  country  and  Great  Britain.  His  colleagues 
were  James  A.  Bayard,  Henry  Clay,  Jonathan  Rus- 
sell, and  Albert  Gallatin.  That  distinguished  body 
negotiated  the  memorable  treaty  at  Ghent.  He 
then,  in  conjunction  with  Messrs.  Clay  and  Gallatin, 
negotiated  a  convention  of  commerce  between  the 
two  governments,  which  holds  to  this  day.     Imme- 


JOHN    QUINCY   ADAMS.  183 

diately  thereafter,  Mr.  Adams  received  the  appoint- 
ment of  minister  plenipotentiary  at  the  court  of  St. 
James.  Here  his  conduct  was  signalized  by  cour- 
teous bearing  and  efficiency,  as  it  had  hitherto  been, 
at  the  Russian  court,  until  he  was  recalled  by  Mr. 
Monroe,  in  March,  1817,  to  fill  an  important  office 
in  his  cabinet,  as  secretary  of  state. 

Mr.  Adams,  during  the  eight  years  of  Monroe's 
administration,  proved  himself  equal  to  what  had 
thus  been  predicted  of  him.  He  at  once  gained  the 
entire  confidence  of  the  executive  board,  and 
showed  an  ability  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  state 
at  home,  equal  to  his  distinguished  diplomatic  ser- 
vices abroad.  He  was  particularly  efficient  in  all 
questions  relating  to  the  fbregn  policy  of  the  govern- 
ment, and  is  to  be  regarded  as  the  prime  mover  of 
many  important  measures  adopted  during  Mr. 
Monroe's  administration,  respecting  foreign  affairs. 
By  him  the  long  standing  disputes  between  our 
government  and  Spain  were  successfully  terminated, 
and  mutual  harmony  restored.  The  Floridas  were 
added  to  our  possessions.  The  independence  of 
the  new  republics  of  Spanish  America  was  recog- 
nized by  our  government. 

The  reputation  which  Mr.  Adams  acquired  during 
Mr.  Monroe's  administration,  early  marked  him  as 
a  candidate  for  the  presidency.  Henry  Clay,  Wil- 
liam H.  Crawford,  and  Andrew  Jackson,  each  hav- 
ing strong  claims  for  popular  support,  were  also  ri- 
val candidates  for  the  same  office.  Party  and  sec- 
tional interests  were  prevalent  then  as  now,  and 
consequently  no  choice  was  made  by  the  electors. 
The  votes  stood  thus:  for  General  Jackson,  99  ;  Mr. 
Adams,  84;  Mr.  Crawford,  41;  and  Mr.  Clay,  37. 
The  election  was  therefore  made  by  the  house  of 
representatives,  and  resulted  in  the  choice  of  Mr. 
Adams. 

Mr.  Adams  occupied  the  presidential  chair  from 
March  4th,  1825,  to  March  4th,  1829.     During  his 


1S4  JOHN    QUINCY   ADAMS. 

administration  party  spirit  ran  high,  and  toward  its 
close  the  popular  current  was  fast  setting  toward 
General  Jackson. 

Soon  after  the  election  of  General  Jackson  to  the 
presidency  of  the  United  States,  Mr.  Adams  returned 
to  Quincy,  his  native  place,  to  enjoy  the  pleasures 
of  domestic  peace  in  his  family  mansion.  No  spot 
was  more  delightful  to  him  than  this.  Here  he 
had  passed  his  boyhood,  amid  scenes  of  surpassing 
beauty  and  of  thrilling  interest.  On  one  side  his 
eye  ranged  along  the  Atlantic,  on  the  other,  it  .tra- 
versed the  distant  Blue  hills.  From  Penu's  hill, 
he  beheld  the  "  smoke  rising  from  burning  Charles- 
town,"  and  distinctly  heard  the  booming  cannon 
during  the  battle  of  Bunker  hill.  "Perm's  hill," 
said  he,  in  a  letter  from  Europe  to  his  mother,  "and 
Braintree  North  Common  rocks  never  looked  and 
never  felt  to  me  like  any  other  hill  or  any  other 
rocks.  Why  ?  Because  every  shrub  and  every 
pebble  upon  them,  associates  itself  with  the  first 
consciousness  of  my  existence  that  remains  upon 
my  memory.  Every  visit  to  them  brings  with  it  a 
resurrection  of  departed  time,  and  seems  to  connect 
me  with  the  ages  of  my  forefathers."  Such  being 
his  devoted ness  to  his  native  town,  he  might  well 
have  desired  to  pass  the  remainder  of  his  days  there. 
He  had  enjoyed  every  honor  his  countrymen  could 
bestow,  or  himself  desire.  Yet  he  was  ready  to 
yield  up  the  pleasures  of  Quincy,  for  the  irksome 
duties  of  congress  and  its  stormy  debates. 

Accordingly  we  find  him  at  the  age  of  sixty-four, 
taking  his  seat  in  the  house  of  representatives  at 
Washington,  to  become  a  life  member  of  that  body; 
for  such  regard  as  that  Avith  which  he  was  held  by  the 
inhabitants  of  his  native  town,  was  sure  to  manifest 
itself  by  his  reelection  as  often  as  one  term  after 
another  of  public  service  expired.  Possessed  of 
extraordinary  native  talents,  that  were  cultivated 
to  an  extent  seldom  found  in  a  statesman,  dignified 


LOUISA  CATHARINE  ADAMS.  185 

with  age  and  experience,  he  carried  into  that  body 
a  weight  of  influence  which,  on  every  occasion, 
being  thrown  into  the  scale  of  equity,  gave  just 
balance  on  the  side  of  humanity.  The  national 
records,  for  a  succession  of  years,  bear  ample  testi- 
mony to  his  great  ability,  enriched  as  they  are  with 
the  refined  strokes  of  his  genius  and  profound  learn- 
ing. His  voice  was  heard  on  nearly  every  import- 
ant question  before  the  house  during  his  protracted 
public  services.  Age  and  experience  gave  weight 
to  what  he  said,  and  commanded  attention.  When 
more  than  four  score  years  had  gone  over  his  head, 
he  was  yet  "  the  old  man  eloquent,"  firm,  dauntless, 
powerful. 

His  intellect  sparkled  to  the  last ;  for  it  was  polish- 
ed day  by  day  to  the  close  of  life.  Old  age  can  not 
cloud  the  mind  kept  like  his,  in  constant  activity 
and  daily  cultivation. 

In  February,  1848,  stricken  down  with  apoplexy 
in  the  Capitol  of  the  nation,  he  died  under  its  dome, 
the  representatives  of  the  Union  bending  over  his 
couch,  in  sorrow.  Thus  terminated  the  life  of  this 
eminently  great  man.  He  has  had  few,  if  any, 
equals,  in  point  of  erudition,  sagacity  and  usefulness. 
Next  to  our  beloved  Washington,  his  memory  will 
be  cherished  by  his  countrymen.  Like  him,  his 
political  history  will  brighten  with  age,  and  his 
uncompromising  integrity  be  proverbial. 


LOUISA  CATHARINE  ADAMS. 

OUISA  Catharine  Johnson,  was  the  maiden 

name  of  the  widow  of  the  late  ex-president 

Adams.     She  was  the  daughter  of  Joshua 

Johnson,  of  Maryland,  who  went  from  America 

to  London,  where  he  became  an  eminent  mer- 

}  chant,  and  where  his  daughter  was  born  on  the 

11th  of  February,  1775.     Mr.  Johnson,  during  the 

24 


186  LOUISA  CATHARINE  ADAMS. 

war,  left  England  for  France,  where  he  acted  as  the 
commercial  agent  of  this  country,  returning  to  Lon- 
don on  the  rat ificationof  peace. 

Mr.  Adams  became  acquainted  with  his  future 
wife  while  acting  under  the  commission  conferred 
upon  him  by  Washington  in  1794,  for  exchanging 
the  ratifications  made  under  the  treaty  of  Novem- 
ber of  that  year.  They  were  married  at  All  Hallows 
church,  London,  in  May,  1797. 

Mrs.  Adams  accompanied  her  husband  to  Prussia 
when  the  latter  was  presented  as  the  first  American 
minister  from  the  United  States.  She  was  at  the 
court  of  St.  Petersburg  from  1809  to  1814,  the  most 
exciting,  and  perhaps  the  most  revolutionary  period 
in  the  history  of  Europe,  and  embracing  a  part  of 
that  interesting  period  of  our  own  history,  when 
we  were  at  war  with  England.  Mr.  Adams  resided 
longer  at  St.  Petersburg  than  any  of  our  American 
ministers,  excepting  Mr.  Middleton;  and  his  lady 
was  left  there  for  a  brief  period,  while  her  husband 
was  called  to  another  field  of  service.  Mrs.  Adams 
came  alone  from  St.  Petersburg  to  Paris,  after  the 
treaty  of  peace  had  been  signed  by  Mr.  Adams  at 
Ghent.  She  was  at  Paris  during  the  most  remark- 
able period  of  Napoleon's  supremacy,  and  passed 
the  world-renowned  Hundred  Days  at  the  French 
metropolis,  in  the  midst  of  the  whirl  of  excitement 
incident  to  the  struggle  between  the  Bourbons  and 
the  Revolutionists.  After  a  short  residence  in  Paris 
followed  by  a  longer  one  with  her  parents  in  the 
neighborhood  of  London,  Mrs.  Adams  came  to 
Washington,  in  1817,  where  her  husband  had  been 
called  as  the  principal  member  of  Mr.  Monroe's 
cabinet.  Eight  years  as  secretary  of  slate,  four  in 
the  White  House,  and  fifty-one  the  companion  of 
her  distinguished  husband,  Mrs.  Adams  has  seen 
more  of  court  life,  and  that  in  every  variety,  from 
the  boastful  ostentation  of  royalty  to  the  simplicity 
of  our  own  republican  habits,  than  perhaps  any 
living  woman. 


<Z^jhrza^L^u '  cg^Zg^Lp^ 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  187 


ANDREW  JACKSON. 


^Ag^EVENTH  president  of  the  United  States, 
^v^3fe\  Andrew  Jackson  was  born  in  the  Waxhaw 
gj'^g/  settlement,  South  Carolina,  on  the  15th  of 
<&  March,  17G7. 

Y^  The  Jackson  family  were  of  Scottish  origin, 
^  and  a  portion  of  them  emigrated  from  Scotland 
to  the  province  of  Ulster,  Ireland,  during  the  reign 
of  Henry  the  Seventh. 

The  grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir 
was  a  linen  draper  near  Carrickfergus,  Ireland.  He 
had  four  sons,  who  were  all  respectable  farmers. 
Andrew,  the  youngest,  married  Elizabeth  Hutchin- 
son, with  whom,  in  1765,  he  emigrated  to  South 
Carolina,  where,  two  years  afterwards,  his  son,  the 
future  president,  was  born.  Losing  his  father  about 
the  time  of  his  birth,  Andrew  was  at  an  early  age 
placed  by  his  mother  under  the  tuition  of  Mr. 
Humphries,  the  principal  of  the  Waxhaw  acade- 
my. He  then  obtained  a  tolerable  knowledge  of 
Greek  and  Latin  as  well  as  the  common  branches 
of  an  English  education.  But  the  tumult  of  the 
revolution  soon  interrupted  his  studies,  and  he  ar- 
dently longed  to  become  one  of  the  defenders  of  his 
country. 

In  1778,  the  militia  of  South  Carolina,  on  being 
called  out  to  repel  the  invading  foe,  Hugh,  the  eld- 
est of  Andrew's  brothers,  was  slain.  In  17S0,  when 
little  more  than  thirteen  years  of  age,  with  a  heart 
burning  with  indignation,  young  Andrew  joined  a 
volunteer  corps  with  his  brother  Robert,  and  served 
under  general  Sumpter. 

In  1781  Andrew  and  his  brother  Robert  were 
taken  prisoners.  While  in  captivity  Andrew  being 
one  day  ordered  to  clean  the  muddy  boots  of  a  Bri- 
tish    officer,    indignantly   refused,  whereupon  he 


188  ANDREW    JACKSON. 

received  a  severe  sword  cut.  His  brother  was  also 
severely  wounded  by  a  blow  on  the  head  for  a  simi- 
lar refusal. 

After  their  release,  the  brothers  returned  with 
their  mother  to  Waxhaw,  where  Robert  soon  died 
from  sickness  and  the  effect  of  the  brutal  blow. 
The  mother  soon  afterwards  dying,  Andrew  was 
left  the  only  survivor  of  the  Jackson  family  who 
came  to  America. 

At  the  close  of  the  revolution,  he  fell  into  habits  of 
dissipation,  but  he  suddenly  reformed,  and  in  1784 
commenced  the  study  of  law  at  Salisbury,  North 
Carolina.  On  the  completion  of  his  studies,  the 
governor  appointed  him  solicitor  of  that  portion  of 
the  state  now  comprising  Tennessee.  In  1791  he 
married  Mrs.  Rachael  Robards,  an  amiable  woman, 
who  had  previously  been  divorced  from  her  hus- 
band. 

In  1796  Mr.  Jackson  was  elected  a  member  of 
congress  from  Tennessee,  and  in  1797  at  the  age  of 
thirty  he  took  his  seat  in  the  United  States  senate. 
On  leaving  that  body  he  was  appointed  judge  of  the 
supreme  court  of  his  state,  and  also  major-general 
of  the  militia.  In  1804  he  resigned  his  judgeship, 
and  returned  to  his  plantation,  near  Nashville,  hav- 
ing amassed  a  considerable  fortune. 

When,  in  1812,  the  United  States  declared  war 
against  Great  Britain,  Jackson  ardently  longed  for 
an  opportunity  to  enter  the  army.  One  soon  ottered, 
and  in  January,  1813,  he  descended  the  Mississippi  at 
the  head  of  a  body  of  volunteer  troops,  destined  for 
the  defence  of  New  Orleans  and  vicinity.  They 
were,  however,  soon  after  marched  home  and  dis- 
charged, the  necessity  for  their  serving  seeming  no 
longer  to  exist. 

Early  in  1813,  he  was  appointed  to  the  command 
of  an  expedition  against  the  Creek  Indians,  who, 
in  connection  with  the  northern  tribes,  were  com- 
mitting dreadful  massacres  upon  the  frontiers.     He 


ANDREW    JACKSON.  189 

reached  the  Indian  country  in  October,  1813,  and 
after  several  severe  battles  he  brought  them  to  the 
knee  of  submission. 

In  May,  1814,  on  the  resignation  of  General 
Harrison,  General  Jackson  received  the  appoint- 
ment of  major  general  in  the  United  States  army. 
During  the  summer  he  acted  as  diplomatist  inne- 
gotiating  treaties  with  the  southern  Indians,  which 
he  effected  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  his  govern- 
ment. Learning  that  a  body  of  British  troops  were 
at  Pensacola  (then  in  possession  of  Spain,)  drilling 
a  large  number  of  Indians  for  war,  he  advised  his 
government  to  take  possession  of  that  port.  Subse- 
quently, having  about  thirty-five  hundred  men  under 
his  command  for  the  defence  of  the  southern  country, 
he  captured  Pensacola  on  his  own  responsibility, 
and  put  an  end  to  difficulties  in  that  quarter.  On 
the  1st  of  December  he  arrived  at  New  Orleans,  and 
made  his  headquarters  there.  He  set  about  prepar- 
ing for  its  defence,  and,  in  order  to  act  efficiently, 
declared  martial  law.  On  the  21st  of  December  he 
had  a  battle  with  the  British,  nine  miles  below  the 
city;  and  on  the  8th  of  January  the  decisive  battle 
of  New  Orleans  was  fought.  On  the  13th  of  Feb. 
an  express  arrived  at  headquarters  with  intelligence 
of  the  conclusion  of  peace  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain.  In  every  section  of  the 
Union  the  triumph  at  New  Orleans  was  hailed  with 
the  greatest  joy,  and  Jackson  became  exceedingly 
popular. 

In  1818,  he  was  called  to  act  in  conjunction  with 
General  Gaines  in  suppressing  the  depredations  of 
the  Seminole  Indians  in  Florida.  In  the  course  of  the 
campaign  he  took  possession  of  St.  Marks,  and  again 
of  Pensacola,  although  in  possession  of  the  Spanish. 
This  act  portended  trouble  with  Spain,  but  the 
speedy  cession  of  Florida  to  the  United  States  re- 
moved all  cause.  On  the  close  of  the  campaign  he 
resigned  his  commission  in  the  army. 


190  ANDREW   JACKSON. 

In  1821,  President  Monroe  appointed  him  governor 
of  Florida;  and  in  1823  he  was  offered  the  station 
of  minister  to  Mexico.  In  1822,  the  legislature  of 
Tennessee  nominated  him  for  president  of  the 
United  States;  and  in  1823  it  elected  him  United 
States  senator.  In  1824,  he  was  one  of  the  five 
candidates  for  president,  and  received  more  votes 
than  any  of  his  competitors,  but  not  a  sufficient 
number  to  elect  him.  In  182o,  he  entertained  La 
Fayette  at  his  estate  called  the  Hermitage.  In 
1828,  he  was  elected  president  of  the  Uniteo7  States 
by  a  majority  of  more  than  two  to  one  over  Mr. 
Adams*  Mr.  Calhoun  was  elected  vice-president. 
The  administration  of  Jackson,  of  eight  years' 
duration,  was,  like  his  life,  an  eventful  one,  but  our 
prescribed  limits  will  permit  us  only  to  briefly  refer 
to  the  principal  events  which  distinguished  it. 

The  spirit  of  the  advice  which  Jackson  had  given 
to  Monroe  was  not  regarded  by  himself,  and  he 
chose  for  his  cabinet,  and  other  appointments,  men 
of  his  own  party  exclusively.  During  the  first  year 
of  his  administration  a  great  many  removals  from 
office  took  place,  and  this  subjected  him  to  severe 
animadversions. 

The.  hostility  of  the  southern  portion  of  the  Union 
to  the  tariff  of  1828,  evolved  bold  doctrines  concern- 
ing state  rights;  and  in  1830  the  principle  known 
as  nullification  was  openly  avowed  by  Mr.  Cal- 
houn and  his  southern  friends.  The  legislature  of 
South  Carolina  had  previously  declared  the  tariff 
law  unconstitutional.  Virginia,  Georgia,  and  Ala- 
bama, sided  with  South  Carolina,  and  assumed 
that  the  sovereignty  of  the  states  was  so  absolute 
that  they  had  the  right  to  nullify  any  act  of  the 
general  government.     This  was  an  alarming  doc- 

*Just  before  departing;  for  Washington  in  1829,  to  assume  the  reins 

of  government,  he  lost  his  estimable  wile.  The  bereavement  weighed 
heavily  upon  his  spirits,  and  he  entered  upon  his  exalted  duties  with  a 
sad  heart. 


ANDREW    JACKSON.  191 

trine,  and  the  dissolution  of  the  Union  seemed  near 
at  hand.  Bat  the  energy  of  the  president  was  equal 
to  the  emergency.  He  issued  a  proclamation,  and 
sent  troops  to  Charleston,  to  act  as  occasion  might 
require.  These  energetic  measures  were  approved 
by  the  great  body  of  the  people,  and  active  nullifi- 
cation soon  disappeared. 

In  1830,  the  French  government  having  changed 
hands,  Mr.  Rives,  United  States  minister  at  Paris, 
negotiated  a  treaty,  by  which  the  payment  of  nearly 
five  millions  of  dollars,  for  depredations  upon  our 
commerce  about  the  close  of  the  last  century,  was 
stipulated.  It  was  to  be  paid  in  six  annual  instal- 
ments; but  the  French  chamber  of  deputies  neg- 
lected or  refused  to  appropriate  the  amount,  and 
the  draft  for  the  first  instalment  came  back  protest- 
ed. This  act  the  president  highly  resented,  and  a 
war  between  this  country  and  France  became  ex- 
tremely probable.  The  matter  was  finally  settled 
in  1836,  but  not  till  years  of  angry  dispute  had,  in 
a  great  measure,  alienated  from  each  other  the 
people  of  the  two  countries. 

In  1S30,  by  a  treaty  with  Great  Britain,  direct 
trade  was  opened  with  the  British  colonies  in  the 
West  Indies.  In  1832,  the  war  with  the  Indian 
tribes  on  the  north-west  frontier,  known  as  the 
Black  Hawk  war,  occurred.  From  1829  to  1833, 
advantageous  commercial  treaties  were  concluded 
with  many  of  the  governments  of  the  old  world. 

In  1832,  a  bill  for  rechartering  the  United  States 
bank  was  passed  by  both  houses  of  congress.  The 
bill  was  vetoed  by  the  president,  and  in  1S36  the 
bank,  as  a  national  institution,  ceased  to  exist. 

In  the  autumn  of  1832,  Jackson  was  reelected 
president,  and  Martin  Van  Buren  was  elected  vice- 
president.  Mr.  Clay  was  the  opposing  candidate 
for  president. 

In  1833,  the  president  becoming  convinced  that 
the  United  States  bank  was  insolvent,  directed  the 


192  ANDREW   JACKSON. 

removal  of  the  government  deposites  from  its  cus- 
todv.  This  measure  produced  great  excitement, 
and,  to  some  extent,  a  defection  trom  the  adminis- 
tration ranks.  It  was  proved,  by  a  subsequent 
commission,  that  the  bank  was  in  a  sound  condition. 
The  great  commercial  revulsion  of  1336-7  was 
charged  upon  this  measure,  but,  as  a  majority  of 
the  people  believed,  without  any  just  cause. 

In  1834,  the  Cherokee  nation  of  Indians,  inhabit- 
ing a  portion  of  Georgia,  came  into  collision  with 
the  authorities  of  that  state,  Avho  claimed  that  by 
certain  treaties  their  lands  belonged  to  Georgia. 
They  were  partially  civilized  and  had  many  farms 
under  cultivation,  and  it  was  a  peculiar  hardship 
for  them  to  leave  and  go  into  the  wilderness.  In 
1835,  amicable  arrangements  were  made  for  their 
removal,  and  they  went  beyond  the  Mississippi. 
This  was  a  most  unrighteous  act  of  our  government. 

Toward  the  close  of  1835,  the  Seminole  Indians 
in  Florida  commenced  hostilities  against  the  white 
settlements  on  the  frontier.  An  attempt  of  the 
government  to  remove  the  tribes  beyond  the  Missis- 
sippi was  the  immediate  cause  of  the  war.  Osceola 
was  the  chief  warrior  of  the  Seminoles,  and  by  his 
artful  dissimulation  in  diplomacy,  and  boldness  in 
war,  the  contest  lasted  for  several  years. 

In  1835-6,  a  large  number  of  banking  institutions 
sprang  up  in  the  several  states,  and  the  facility  thus 
afforded  for  obtaining  money,  fostered  a  spirit  of 
speculation,  which  finally  ended  in  a  business  re- 
vulsion such  as  was  never  witnessed  here  before. 
The  celebrated  specie  circular,  issued  from  the 
treasury  department  in  J83'i,  requiring  the  payment 
of  gold  and  silver  for  public  lands,  gave  the  first 
powerful  check  To  mad  schemes  of  speculation,  and 
it  doubtless  prevented  in  a  measure  the  absorption 
of  the  entire  public  domain  by  a  few  individuals. 

In  the  fall  of  1836,  another  presidential  election 
occurred.     The  opposing  candidates  were  Martin 


ANDREW   JACKSON.  193 

Van  Buren  (democratic),  and  General  Harrison  and 
Judge  White  (opposition).  Van  Bnren  was  elected 
president  and  Richard  M.  Johnson  vice-president. 

In  January,  1837,  a  resolution  was  passed,  ex- 
punging from  the  journals  of  congress  a  resolution 
offered  by  Mr.  Clay  in  1834,  censuring  the  course 
of  the  president  in  removing  the  government  funds 
from  the  United  States  bank.  The  last  official  act 
of  Jackson's  administration  was  an  informal  veto 
(by  retaining  it  in  his  possession  till  after  the  ad- 
journment of  congress)  of  a  bill  so  far  counteracting 
the  specie  circular  as  to  allow  the  reception  of 
the  notes  of  specie-paying  banks  in  payment  for 
public  lands. 

On  the  3d  of  March,  1837,  his  administration 
closed ;  and  having  published  a  farewell  address, 
he  retired  to  the  Hermitage  in  Tennessee,  where 
he  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days.  For  the  last 
two  years  of  his  life  he  was  physically  quite  infirm, 
but  his  mind  lost  but  little  of  its  energy.  On  the 
8th  of  June,  1845,  he  expired,  in  the  seventy-ninth 
year  of  his  age.  Public  funeral  obsequies  were  per- 
formed throughout  the  country,  for  it  might  be 
truly  said,  a  "great  man  has  fallen  in  Israel."  His 
estate  was  left  to  the  Donelson  family,  who  were 
relatives  of  Mrs.  Jackson,  he  having  no  blood-rela- 
tions in  this  country. 

In  person,  General  Jackson  was  six  feet  one  inch 
high,  remarkably  straight,  and  thin,  never  weighing 
over  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  His  sharp, 
intelligent  eye  was  a  dark  blue.  His  manners  were 
pleasing,  his  address  commanding,  and  the  most 
remarkable  feature  of  his  character  was  firmness. 
Honest  and  conscientious,  no  obstacle  could  prevent 
his  doing  what  he  judged  to  be  right.  Benevolence 
was  in  him  a  leading  virtue,  and  his  moral  charac- 
ter was  ever  above  reproach.* 

*  Lossiiig's  Lives  of  the  Presidents. 

25 


194  ANDREW    JACKSON. 

In  the  month  of  January,  1835,  at  the  time, 
when,  in  consequence  of  pending  difficulties  be- 
tween this  country  and  France,  the  public  mind  had 
become  somewhat  diverted  from  the  politics  of  fac- 
tions, an  attempt  was  made  on  the  life  of  General 
Jackson,  by  a  young  man  named  Richard  Lawrence. 
He  was  a  journeyman  painter,  about  twenty  or 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  and  a  native  of  Great 
Britain,  though,  for  some  years,  a  resident  of  the  city 
of  Washington. 

This  bold  attempt  was  made  in  the  day  time,  and 
in  the  presence  of  at  least  ten  thousand  people,  on 
the  steps  of  the  east  front  of  the  Capitol.  The  op- 
portunity sought,  was  a  singular,  and  a  melancholy 
one. 

The  Hon.  Warren  R.  Davis,  a  representative  in 
congress,  from  South  Carolina,  had,  a  few  days  be- 
fore, fallen  a  victim  to  the  diseases  incident  to  the 
capital;  and  was  to  be  buried,  from  the  halls  of 
congress,  in  conformity  with  parliamentary  custom 
and  courtesy. 

The  multitude  had  listened  to  a  funeral  discourse 
from  the  chaplain,  in  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  had  marched  in  procession  through 
the  rotunda  to  the  east  front  of  the  Capitol,  and  were 
standing  on  the  esplanade,  General  Jackson  some- 
what in  advance,  when  Richard  Lawrence,  who 
had  gained  his  position,  no  one  could  tell  how, 
drew  from  his  bosom  a  brass  barreled  pistol,  delibe- 
rately presented  it  to  the  breast  of  General  Jackson, 
and  pulled  the  trigger.  The  percussion  cap  exploded 
without  discharging  the  pistol.  Finding  himself 
baffled  in  his  attempt,  he  drew  a  second  pistol, 
which  had  the  same  effect — the  percussion  cap  ex- 
ploded, and  no  harm  was  done.  So  adroitly  did 
Lawrence  act,  and  so  dense  was  the  crowd,  that  he 
was  not  discovered  by  any  one  at  the  moment, 
except  General  Jackson,  who  raised  his  cane  and 
struck  at,  but  missed  his  object.     As  he  raised  his 


ANDREW  JACKSON.  195 

cane,  he  ejaculated  an  emphatic  expression,  familiar 
to  himself"  which  arrested  the  attention  of  others, 
when  Lawrence  was  secured  by  Captain  Gedney, 
of  the  navy,  who  clasped  him  in  his  arms,  and  then 
pinioned  him.  The  cry  was,  instantly,  "kill  him, 
kill  him,  kill  the  assassin,  kill  him."  Gedney, 
however,  held  the  assassin  fast,  and  demanding 
that  law  and  justice  should  take  their  course,  hur- 
ried the  madman  into  a  carriage,  and  conveyed  him 
to  prison. 

The  excitement  that  immediately  ensued  was 
terrific;  the  mass  in  attendance  swayed  to  and  fro 
like  the  waves  of  the  ocean;  and,  hundreds,  not 
knowing  what  was  the  actual  cause  of  alarm,  at- 
tempted to  make  a  precipitant  retreat,  to  avoid  be- 
ing trampled  on. 

At  the  time  of  the  arrest  of  Lawrence,  it  was 
doubted,  by  many,  if  his  pistols  were  loaded,  as 
neither  of  them  went  off.  To  ascertain  the  fact, 
they  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  Major  Donel- 
son,  and  a  company  of  gentlemen,  who  examined 
them.  They  were  found  to  be  loaded  with  ball, 
slug,  and  buck-shot,  and,  being  recapped,  went 
off,  and  perforated  a  two-inch  oak  plank  at  the  dis- 
tance of  some  ten  yards.  They  were  brass  barreled, 
connected  near  the  breech,  or  chamber,  by  a  screw. 

Why  they  did  not  explode  when  placed  at  the 
breast  of  General  Jackson,  of  course  no  one  can 
tell,  but  it  was  supposed,  as  Lawrence  had  carried 
them  in  his  bosom  many  days,  and  as  the  weather 
was  very  warm,  for  the  season,  that  the  warmth  of 
his  body  had  destroyed  the  percussion  caps. 

Lawrence  was  committed  to  jail  in  the  month  cf 
February,  1835,  and  remained  there  many  years, 
when  he  was  conveyed  to  the  lunatic  asylum  in 
Baltimore.  When  we  last  saw  him,  he  appeared  to 
be  contented  and  happy,  and  was  very  busily  en- 
gaged in  parceling  out  crowns  and  kingdoms, 
while  he  originated  monarchies  and  despotisms. — 
Holder? s  Magazine. 


196  MARTIN   VAN   BUREN. 


MARTIN  VAN  BUREN. 


MONG-  the  earlier  immigrants  from  Hol- 
land were  the  Van  Buren  family.  They 
settled  upon  lands  on  the  east  bank  of 
the  Hudson,  now  known  by  the  name 
of  Columbia  county,  New  York. 
Martin  Van  Buren,  the  eighth  president  of 

J^  the  United  States,  was  born  at  Kinderhook  on 
the  5th  of  December,  1782.  His  father  was 
a  firmer  in  very  moderate  circumstances.  His  early 
education  was  extremely  limited,  but  the  little  oppor- 
tunity afforded  him  at  the  Kinderhook  academy,  for 
acquiring  any  learning  beyond  the  mere  rudiments 
of  an  English  education,  was  industriously  im- 
proved. At  the  age  of  fourteen  years  he  entered  the 
office  of  Francis  Sylvester,  a  lawyer  of  Kinderhook, 
and  very  soon  gave  promise  of  future  eminence. 
The  last  year  of  his  preparatory  studies  was  spent 
in  the  office  of  William  P.  Van  Ness,  an  eminent 
lawyer  and  leading  democrat  in  the  city  of  New 
York. 

In  November,  1803,  Mr.  Van  Buren  was  admitted 
to  practice  in  the  supreme  court  of  the  United 
States,  and  in  his  native  town  he  formed  a  law 
partnership  with  his  half-brother,  Mr.  Van  Alen. 
In  1806  he  married  Miss  Hannah  Hoes,  who  was 
distantly  related  to  him.  She  died  in  1818,  leaving 
him  four  sons.  In  1808  he  was  appointed  surrogate 
of  Columbia  county,  and  from  that  time  until  1815 
he  had  a  lucrative  practice.  In  1815  he  was  ap- 
pointed attorney-general  of  the  state,  and  he  con- 
tinued the  practice  of  law  until  1828,  when  he  was 
elected  governor  of  the  state  of  New  York. 

Mr.  Van  Buren's  political  career  has  been  a  bril- 
liant one.  He  entered  the  field  as  early  as  1804, 
when  Aaron  Burr  and  Morgan  Lewis  were  the  op- 


y^^/VC^y^/y^^yia^ 


MARTIN   VAN   BUREN.  197 

posing  democratic  candidates  for  governor  of  the 
state.  He  supported  Mr.  Lewis.  In  1 807  he  warm- 
ly supported  Daniel  D.  Tompkins  for  the  same  office; 
and  during  the  entire  administration  of  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son, it  received  his  support.  He  was  opposed  to 
the  rechartering  of  the  United  States  bank  in  1811, 
and  he  warmly  defended  the  course  of  the  vice- 
president  (George  Clinton),  who  gave  his  casting 
vote  against  the  measure. 

In  1812  he  was  elected  to  the  state  senate,  and 
in  1816  he  was  appointed  a  regent  of  the  univer- 
sity, and  was  also  reelected  to  the  senate  for  four 
years.  He  became  personally  and  politically  op- 
posed to  Mr.  Clinton;  and  when,  in  1818,  that  gen- 
tleman was  elected  governor,  Mr.  Van  Buren  op- 
posed his  administration,  and  was  one  of  the  leaders 
of  that  portion  of  the  democratic  party,  an  alleged 
association  of  which  at  the  seat  of  government  was 
known  by  the  name  of  the  Albany  Regency.  Mr. 
Clinton's  friends  having  a  majority  in  the  council 
of  appointment,  Mr.  Van  Buren  was  removed  from 
the  office  of  attorney-general.  It  was  afterward 
tendered  to  him,  but  he  declined  it. 

In  1821,  Mr.  Van  Buren  was  elected  to  the  se- 
nate of  the  United  States.  He  was  also  an  active 
and  leading  member  of  the  convention  that  met 
that  year  to  revise  the  constitution  of  the  state  of 
New  York.  In  1827,  he  was  reelected  to  the  United 
States  senate  for  six  years.  In  1828,  he  was  elected 
governor  of  his  state.  In  a  brief  message  in  Janu- 
ary, 1829,  he  proposed  the  celebrated  safety-fund 
system  for  banking  institutions.  In  1829,  General 
Jackson  appointed  him  secretary  of  state,  and  he 
resigned  the  office  of  governor.  In  1831,  on  the 
dissolution  of  Jackson's  cabinet,  Mr.  Van  Buren 
was  appointed  minister  to  Great  Britain.  The  ap- 
pointment was  not  confirmed  by  the  senate,  and  he 
was  recalled.  His  friends  looked  upon  this  as  po- 
litical persecution,  and  he  was  nominated  for  and 


198  MARTIN   VAN   BUREN. 

elected  vice-president  of  the  United  States  in  1832. 
In  1836,  he  was  elected  president,  and  Colonel 
Richard  M.  Johnson  was  elected  vice-president. 
]\lr.  Van  Buren  was  inaugurated  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1837. 

During  the  summer  of  1839,  he  visited  the  state 
of  JNevv  York  for  the  first  time  since  his  inaugura- 
tion, and  was  everywhere  greeted  with  enthusiasm. 

In  1840,  Mr.  Van  Buren  was  a  candidate  for  re- 
election, but  the  great  political  changes  from  vari- 
ous causes  gave  but  little  hope  for  his  success. 
General  Harrison,  the  candidate  of  the  opposition, 
was  elected  by  a  large  majority.  John  Tyler  of 
Virginia,  was  elected  vice-president.  Mr.  Van  Bu- 
ren's  administration  closed  on  the  3d  of  March, 
1841. 

Since  his  retirement  from  office,  Mr.  Van  Buren 
has  resided  upon  his  beautiful  estate  at  Kinderhook. 
In  personal  appearance,  Mr.  Van  Buren  is  about  the 
middle  size,  erect,  and  rather  inclined  to  corpulency. 
His  hair  (formerly  light)  is  now  white,  his  eye  is 
bright  and  deeply  penetrating,  and  his  expansive 
forehead  indicates  great  intellectual  power.  He  is 
now  sixty-seven  years  of  age. 

In  the  autumn  of  1848  Mr.  Van  Buren, -at  the 
earnest  solicitation  of  his  friends,  suffered  himself 
to  be  nominated  for  the  presidency  as  the  advocate 
of  the  Wilmot  Proviso,  prohibiting  the  extension  of 
slavery  in  newly  acquired  territory.  This  was  done 
more  with  a  view  of  embodying  the  sentiment  of 
those  opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery  than  from 
any  reasonable  prospect  of  his  election.  The  suc- 
cessful candidate  was  General  Taylor. 


/#  fctfaat^» 


Wv^ 


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WILLIAM    HENRY   HARRISON.  199 


WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON. 

|ILLTAM  Henry  Harrison,  the  ninth  presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  was  born  near 
.JW  Richmond,  Virginia,  on  the  9th  of  Febru- 
$&*  ary,  1773.  His  father,  Benjamin  Harrison,  was 
%&  a  representative  frornVirginia  in  the  continental 
congress,  and  when  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence was  agreed  to,  he  was  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee of  the  whole.  He  was  also  one  of  the  sign- 
ers of  that  document. 

William  Henry,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
the  youngest  of  three  sons. 

After  graduating  at  Hampden  Sydney,  he  went 
to  Philadelphia  for  the  purpose  of  studying  medi- 
cine, but  he  had  scarcely  arrived  when  the  news  of 
his  father's  death  reached  him.  He  then  resolved 
to  enter  the  army;  and  having  obtained  from  Wash- 
ington an  ensign's  commission,  he  departed  for  the 
west. 

"When  General  Wayne,  in  1794,  took  the  com- 
mand in  the  north-west,  young  Harrison  was  soon 
noticed  for  his  valor,  and  made  one  of  his  aids.  He 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  captain;  and  after  the 
treaty  of  Greenville,  in  1795,  he  was  left  in  com- 
mand of  Fort  Washington.  He  soon  after  married 
the  daughter  of  Judge  Symmes,  the  proprietor  of 
the  Miami  purchase,  and,  resigning  his  military 
commission,  entered  upon  civil  official  duties  as 
secretary  of  the  North- Western  territory. 

In  1799,  Harrison  was  elected  the  first  delegate  to 
congress  from  the  North- Western  territory.  Through 
his  influence  in  congress,  such  salutary  regulations 
respecting  the  sale  and  occupancy  of  public  lands 
at  the  west  were  effected,  that  emigration  rapidly 
filled  the  country  with  settlers.  When,  soon  after, 
Indiana  was  erected  into  a  territory,  Harrison  was 


200  WILLIAM   HENRY   HARRISON. 

appointed  governor  thereof  by  President  Adams. 
He  was  clothed  with  extraordinary  powers,  which 
subsequently  became  necessary,  for  in  their  exercise 
he  was  instrumental  in  saving  the  settlers  of  that 
frontier  from  the  hatchet  of  the  savages,  whetted 
by  British  intrigue.  When  the  war  of  1812  broke 
out,  Harrison  found  the  Indians  ripe  for  conflict, 
under  the  teachings  of  the  brave  Tecumseh  and 
his  prophet-brother.  Before  that  event  he  took  the 
field  in  person,  and  obtained  a  decisive  victory  over 
the  savages  at  Tippecanoe,  the  village  of  Tecumseh. 
In  1812,  he  received  the  appointment  of  brevet 
major-general  in  the  Kentucky  militia,  and  on  the 
surrender  of  Hull,  he  was  appointed  a  major-general 
in  the  army  of  the  United  States.  In  October,  1813, 
he  achieved  the  battle  of  the  Thames. 

In  1814,  he  resigned  his  commission,  in  conse- 
quence of  a  misunderstanding  with  General  Arm- 
strong, the  secretary  of  war.  President  Madison, 
who  held  him  in  the  greatest  esteem,  deeply  de- 
plored the  act  of  resignation.  General  Harrison 
retired  to  his  farm  at  North  Bend,  in  Ohio,  but  the 
voice  of  the  people  called  him  forth  to  represent 
them  at  various  times,  both  in  the  state  legislature 
and  in  the  congress  of  the  United  States.  In  1824, 
he  was  elected  to  the  senate  of  the  United  States; 
and  in  1828,  he  was  appointed  minister  to  the  re- 
public of  Colombia,  in  South  America.  In  conse- 
quence of  some  difference  of  views  respecting  the 
Panama  question,  General  Jackson  recalled  him. 
He  retired  to  his  estate  at  North  Bend,  with  the 
intention  of  passing  the  remainder  of  his  days  there 
in  the  bosom  of  his  family.  But  the  voice  of  the 
people  again  called  him  forth,  and  in  1840  he  was 
elected  president  of  the  United  States  by  an  over- 
whelming majority.  John  Tyler,  of  Virginia,  was 
elected  vice-president. 

General  Harrison  was  inaugurated  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1841.     But  the  sound  of  rejoicing  that  at- 


6r~> 


JOHN   TYLER.  201 

tended  his  elevation  had  scarcely  died  upon  the  ear, 
when  a  funeral-knell  was  heard,  and  the  beloved 
and  veteran  statesman  was  a  corpse  in  the  presi- 
dential mansion!  On  the  4th  of  April,  just  one 
month  after  his  inauguration,  he  expired,  aged 
sixty-eight  years. 

In  person,  he  was  tall  and  slender,  and  always 
enjoyed  great  bodily  vigor.  His  dark  eye  was 
remarkable  for  its  keenness  and  intelligence. 
Throughout  a  long  life,  he  was  distinguished  for 
stern  integrity,  purity  of  purpose,  and  patriotism 
without  alloy."* 


JOHN  TYLER. 


>MONG  the  early  English  settlers  of  Virginia 
%  were  the  ancestors  of  John  Tyler,  the  tenth 
president  of  the  United  States.  His  father 
(&  was  a  lineal  descendant  of  Wat  Tyler,  who  in 
*  the  fourteenth  century  headed  an  insurrection 
in  England,  and  who  lost  his  life  while  inso- 
lently demanding  from  Richard  the  Second  certain 
rights  which  were  claimed  for  the  people. 

The  subject  of  this  notice  was  born  in  Charles 
county,  Virginia,  on  the  29th  of  March,  1790.  At 
the  age  of  twelve  he  entered  William  and  Mary 
college,  and  in  his  seventeenth  year  he  graduated 
with  high  honor.  Applying  himself  to  the  study  of 
the  law,  at  the  age  of  nineteen  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar,  where  he  soon  secured  an  extensive  practice. 
In  18 LI  he  was  unanimously  elected  a  member 
of  the  Virginia  legislature.  In  1816  he  was  elected 
to  congress.  Towards  the  close  of  his  second  term 
of  service  in  that  body,  his  impaired  health  com- 

*  Lossing. 

26 


202  JOHN  TYLER. 

pelled  hi'm  to  resign.  In  1823  lie  was  again  elected 
to  the  Virginia  legislature.  In  1825,  by  a  very  large 
majority,  he  was  elected  governor  of  Virginia.  On 
the  following  year  he  was  reelected,  but  resigned 
in  order  to  take  his  place  in  the  United  States  senate. 
In  1833  he  was  reelected  to  the  senate  for  the  term 
of  six  years. 

"In  1836,  the  legislature  of  Virginia  instructed 
the  senators  from  that  state  to  vote  for  expunging 
from  the  journals  of  the  senate  the  resolution  of  Mr. 
Clay,  censuring  the  president.  As  Mr.  Tyler  ap- 
proved of  the  resolution,  he  could  not  obey  instruc- 
tions, and,  true  to  his  avowed  principles,  he  resigned 
his  seat,  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  Rives. 

In  the  spring  of  1838,  the  whigs  of  James  City 
county  elected  Mr.  Tyler  a  member  of  the  Virginia 
legislature.  In  1839  he  was  elected  a  member  of 
the  whig  convention  that  met  at  Harrisburgh  to 
nominate  a  candidate  for  president  of  the  United 
States.  He  was  chosen  vice-president  of  the  con- 
vention, and  warmly  supported  Mr.  Clay  for  the 
nomination.  General  Harrison  was  nominated  for 
president,  and  Mr.  Tyler  for  vice-president,  and  in 
1840  they  were  both  elected." 

On  the  sudden  death  of  President  Harrison,  on  the 
4th  of  April,  1841,  Mr.  Tyler,  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  the  constitution,  became  president  of 
the  United  States.  Of  the  character  of  his  admin- 
istration and  his  personal  relations  thereto,  it  is  not 
our  province  to  speak.  In  declining  a  nomination 
for  a  second  term  he  said,  "  I  appeal  from  the  vi- 
tuperation of  the  present  day  to  the  pen  of  impartial 
history,  in  the  full  confidence  that  neither  my 
motives  nor  my  acts  will  bear  the  interpretation 
which  has,  for  sinister  purposes,  been  placed  upon 
them."  On  the  4th  of  March,  1845,  he  returned  to 
his  estate  near  Williamsburg,  Virginia,  where  he 
still  resides. 

The  first  wife  of  President  Tyler  was  Miss  Lu- 


JAMES  K.  POLK.  203 

cretia  Christian,  whom  he  married  in  1813.  She 
died  September.  10th,  1842.  On  the  26th  of  June, 
1844,  he  married  Miss  Julia  Gardiner,  daughter  of 
the  late  David  Gardiner,  who  was  killed  by  the 
explosion  on  board  the  Princeton. 


JAMES  KNOX  POLK, 

;LEVENTH  president  of  the  United  States, 
was  born  in  Mecklenburg  county,  North 
Carolina,  on  the  2d  of  March,  1795.  Some- 
time previous  to  the  commencement  of  the 
revolutionary  war,  his  ancestors  settled  near 
the  western  frontier  of  North  Carolina,  and 
during  the  stormy  period  they  were  among  the  most 
ardent  patriots.*  In  the  autumn  of  1806  the  father 
of  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  with  a  wife  and  ten 
children,  removed  to  Tennessee,  upon  the  Duck 
river,  which  region  was  then  a  wilderness.  James 
having  acquired  a  good  English  education,  was  at 
the  age  of  seventeen  placed  in  a  mercantile  house. 
But  preferring  the  law,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  with 
a  view  to  the  acquirement  of  the  profession,  he  en- 
tered the  university  of  North  Carolina,  where  in 
1818  he  graduated  with  distinguished  honor.  Re- 
turning to  Tennessee,  he  commenced  the  study  of 
law,  in  the  office  of  the  late  Felix  Grundy.  In 
1820  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar.  He  commenced 
practice  in  the  county  of  Maury,  where  he  soon 
took  the  lead  in  his  profession. 

In  1823  he  was  elected  to  the  legislature  of  Ten- 
nessee, and  in  1825  he  was  elected  to  congress. 

*  The  name  of  Ezekiel  Polk,  the  grandfather  of  the  ex-president,  is 
found  on  the  original  copy  of  the  Mecklenburg,  North  Carolina,  Declara- 
tion of  Independence,  made  May  19,  1775,  and  recently  discovered  by 
Mr.  Bancroft. 


204  ZACHARY    TAYLOR. 

Having  been  reeelected  to  that  body  for  fourteen 
years,  in  1839  he  was  elected  by  a  Jarge  majority 
governor  of  Tennessee.  In  1841  and  1843  he  was 
again  a  candidate  for  the  same  office,  but  without 
success.  On  the  29th  of  May,  1844,  the  democratic 
convention  at  Baltimore  nominated  him  as  their 
candidate  for  president  of  the  United  States,  and  in 
the  November  following  he  was  elected,  by  a  ma- 
jority over  Mr.  Clay  of  over  sixty-four  electoral 
votes;  George  M.  Dallas  being  elected  vice-presi- 
dent. On  the  4th  of  March,  1845,  Mr.  Polk  was 
inaugurated.  The  most  prominent  event  in  his  ad- 
ministration was  the  commencement  and  the  suc- 
cessful termination  of  the  war  with  Mexico,  by 
which  an  immense  portion  of  the  Mexican  territory, 
including  California,  came  into  the  possession  of  the 
United  States. 

Mr.  Polk  was  not  a  candidate  for  reelection.  On 
the  4th  of  March,  1849,  he  vacated  the  executive 
mansion,  and  with  his  amiable  lady  returned  once 
more  to  the  blessedness  of  private  life. 


ZACHARY  TAYLOR. 

ESCENDED  from  James  Taylor,  who  emi- 
L  grated  from  England  to  Virginia  towards 
the  close  of  seventeenth  century,  General 
Zachary  Taylor  was  born  in  Orange  county, 
^Virginia,  in  the  year  1790,  and  entered  the 
United  States  army  as  a  lieutenant,  in  1808; 
he  was  then  but  eighteen  years  of  age.  He  was  at- 
tached to  the  seventh  regiment  of  United  States 
infantry,  and  in  four  years  rose  to  the  rank  of  cap- 
tain. In  1812  he  was  invested  with  the  command 
of  Fort  Harrison,  Indiana,  which  he  defended  with 
such  valor  that  he  was  made  major  by  brevet  by 


3- 


ZACHARY   TAYLOR.  205 

President  Madison.  In  1832  he  was  raised  to  the 
position  of  colonel.  He  subsequently  played  a  con- 
spicuous part  in  the  Florida  war,  winning,  after  the 
severest  fight  on  record,  the  celebrated  Indian  bat- 
tle of  Okee-cho-bee,  for  which  he  received  the  ap- 
pointment of  brigadier-general.  In  1845  he  was 
ordered  to  Texas,  and  took  up  his  position  at  Corpus 
Christi.  He  was  instructed  by  the  United  States  to 
repel  any  invasion  of  Texan  territory.  On  the  11th 
of  March,  1846,  he  moved  westward,  and  reached 
the  river  Colorado,  which  he  passed  on  the  22d, 
under  an  intimation  from  the  Mexican  general  that 
such  a  step  would  be  considered  a  declaration  of 
war.  On  the  24th  he  reached  Point  Isabel.  On  the 
8th  of  May  he  met  the  Mexicans  at  Palo  Alto,  and 
on  the  9th  again  defeated  them  at  Resaca  de  la 
Palma.  General  Taylor  immediately  received  the 
appointment  of  major-general  by  brevet.  Monterey 
came  next;  but  the  crowning  glory  of  the  whole 
campaign  was  the  brilliantly  fought  battle  of  Buena 
Vista. 

This  was  the  last,  as  it  was  the  noblest,  of  Gene- 
ral Taylor's  victories,  and  one,  moreover,  which 
placed  him  among  the  greatest  generals  of  the  age 
in  which  he  lives. 

On  the  1st  of  June,  1848,  at  a  whig  national 
convention,  held  at  Philadelphia,  General  Taylor 
was  nominated  as  president  of  the  United  States  on 
the  fourth  ballot.     The  vote  stood  as  follows : 

1st  ballot.     2d.  3d.         4th. 

Zachary  Taylor,  ••• •    111       118       133       171 

Henry  Clav, 97  86  74         32 

Winfield  Scott, 43         49         54         63 

Daniel  Webster, 22         22  17  13 

John  M.  Clayton,-  •  •        4  4  10 

John  McLean,* 2  0  0  0 

Total, 279       279       279       279 

*  Withdrawn  before. 


206  ZACHARY    TAYLOR. 

In  November  of  the  same  year,  he  was  elected  by 
a  large  majority.  He  was  inaugurated  on  the  4th 
of  March,  1849. 


Taylor  is  the  first  of  our  presidents  who  bears  an 
Old  Testament  name.  The  name  of  Zachary  has 
not  very  frequently  appeared  appended  to  men  in 
distinguished  public  life.  More  than  a  thousand 
years  have  intervened  between  the  election  of  Pope 
Zachary  and  President  Taylor.  It  is  a  curious  cir- 
cumstance that  the  papal  temporal  dynasty  was 
commenced  in  Rome  under  Zachary,  1107  years 
ago,  and  in  the  same  year  that  the  American  Zach- 
ary is  called  to  our  presidential  chair,  the  temporal 
power  expires,  and  a  new  constitutional  government 
is  formed  in  Rome  upon  the  basis  of  universal  suf- 
rage. 


DISTINGUISHED  AMERICANS. 


.KpfTSAIt  the  close  of  the  last  century,  in  the 
^7||  woods  of  New  Hampshire,  might  have  been 
^p§rl  seen  a  stern  looking  youth,  in  coarse  attire, 
^J  with  a  whip  in  his  hand,  shouting  to  a  yoke  of 
^f,  oxen,  or  splitting  wood  for  the  winter's  fire. 
Deprived  of  all  the  advantages  of  education,  except 
those  afforded  by  a  common  school,  and  shut  out 
from  the  world  by  a  dense  forest,  how  could  it  have 
been  supposed  that  the  voice  of  one  so  lowly  would 
ever  echo  in  tones  of  soul-chaining  eloquence 
through  the  halls  of  congress,  or  that  his  sagacious 


208  DANIEL    WEBSTER. 

counsels  in  the  cabinet,  would  place  him  among 
the  first  statesmen  of  the  world.  Yet  this  came  to 
pass,  and  Daniel  Webster,  by  the  energy  of  a  deter- 
mined will,  has  literally  worked  his  way  from  the 
plow  to  the  senate;  and  as  a  lawyer  and  states- 
man, has  become  the  admiration  of  all  Europe. 
As  has  been  truly  observed,  such  men  as  he,  have 
become  great,  not  so  much  from  the  facilities  for  a 
common  knowledge,  which  our  systems  of  educa- 
tion afford,  as  from  the  sf//- reliance  which  a  sense 
of  freedom  confers.  The  moment  you  make  a  man 
politically  equal  to  his  fellow,  you  give  him  a  con- 
sciousness that  he  is  so  in  all  respects.  This  is  the 
source  of  confidence.  And  how  many,  from  a  want 
of  this  royal  egotism,  have  smothered  thoughts  of 
fire,  and  died  victims  to  their  unsatisfied  yearnings. 
Confidence  rolls  the  stone  from  the  sepulchre,  and 
liberates  the  imprisoned  deity  of  mind. 

Daniel  Webster  was  born  in  Salisbury,  in  the 
state  of  New  Hampshire,  at  the  head  of  the  Merri- 
mac  river,  on  the  1 8th  of  January,  1782.  His  father, 
who  was  a  farmer,  was  at  one  period  an  officer  of 
the  revolution,  and  for  many  years  judge  of  the 
court  of  common  pleas.  Like  his  son  he  was  a 
man  of  strongly  marked  character,  full  of  decision, 
integrity,  firmness,  and  good  sense.  The  early 
youth  of  Daniel  was  passed  in  the  midst  of  the 
forest,  where  the  means  for  forming  the  character 
we  now  witness  in  him,  seemed  absolutely  wanting; 
and  but  for  the  characteristic  policy  of  New  Eng- 
land, which  carries  its  free  schools  into  the  wilder- 
ness, he  would  have  passed  the  "mute  inglorious 
life,"  which  is  entailed  upon  the  peasantry  of  less 
favored  countries.  Struggling  always  with  diffi- 
culties, and  by  great  sacrifices  on  the  part  of  his 
family,  he  entered  Dartmouth  college,  where  he 
graduated  in  1801,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  and  even 
at  this  early  period,  so  far  as  learning  was  concerned, 
he   had   outstripped   every  competitor.     He   com- 


DANIEL  WEBSTER.  209 

menced  the  study  of  law  in  his  native  town,  and 
completed  it  in  1805  at  Boston,  in  the  office  of 
Mr.  Gore,  afterwards  governor  of  Massachusetts. 
Mr.  Webster  then  returned  to  his  native  state  and 
commenced  practice  in  the  small  village  of  Bos- 
cawen.  In  1807,  he  removed  to  Portsmouth,  the 
commercial  capital  of  New  Hampshire.  There  by 
coming  into  collision  with  the  leading  counsel  at 
that  place,  men  of  the  first  order  of  mind,  he  went 
through  a  stern  intellectual  training,  and  acquired 
that  unsparing  logic,  for  which  he  is  now  so  dis- 
tinguished. 

At  the  age  of  thirty,  in  1812,  after  the  declaration 
of  war,  he  was  elected  as  one  of  the  representatives 
from  New  Hampshire  to  the  13th  congress.  In 
1816,  after  an  arduous  public  service  of  four  years, 
Mr.  Webster  determined  to  return  for  a  time,  to 
private  life.  In  18 13,  by  the  disastrous  fire  at  Ports- 
mouth, he  sustained  a  heavy  pecuniary  loss,  which 
the  opportunities  offered  by  his  profession  in  New 
Hampshire,  were  not  likely  to  repair.  He  therefore 
in  the  summer  of  1816,  removed  to  Boston,  which 
has  since  been  his  principal  place  of  residence. 
Here  his  success  at  the  bar  soon  surpassed  his  most 
sanguine  expectations,  and  he  rapidly  ascended 
that  eminence  where  so  few  have  been  able  to  fol- 
low. In  1820,  he  was  a  member  of  the  convention 
for  revising  the  constitution  of  Massachusetts,  and 
on  the  22d  of  December  in  the  same  year,  being 
the  two  hundreth  anniversary  of  the  landing  of  the 
pilgrims  at  Plymouth,  Mr.  Webster,  by  the  sure 
indication  of  the  public  will,  was  summoned  to  that 
consecrated  spot,  and  in  an  address,  which  is  the 
gravest  of  his  published  works,  "so  spoke  of  the 
centuries  past,  that  the  centuries  yet  to  come  shall 
receive  and  remember  his  words."  Again  in  1825, 
fifty  years  from  the  day  when  the  solemn  drama  of 
the  American  revolution  was  opened  on  Bunker's 
hill,  Mr.  Webster  stood  there  and  interpreted  to 
27 


210  DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

assembled  thousands,  the  feelings  with  which  that 
great  event  will  for  ever  be  regarded.  Again  too, 
in  the  summer  of  1826,  he  was  called  upon  to  com- 
memorate the  services  which  Adams  and  Jefferson 
had  rendered,  when  they  carried  through  the  De- 
claration of  Independence,  and  which  they  so  mys- 
teriously sealed  by  their  common  death,  exactly 
half  a  century  afterwards.  And  finally  on  the  22d 
of  February,  1832,  at  the  completion  of  a  century 
from  the  birth  of  Washington,  and  in  the  city  which 
bears  his  name,  Mr.  Webster  exhibited  him  to  the 
country  as  standing  at  the  head  alike  of  a  new 
world,  and  of  a  new  era  in  the  history  of  man. 
These  four  occasions  were  all  memorable;  and  the 
genius  of  Mr.  Webster  has  sent  them  down,  marked 
with  its  impress,  to  posterity. 

Having  again  served  in  the  17th  and  18th  con- 
gress, in  1826  he  was  reelected  from  the  same  dis- 
trict a  third  time;  but  before  he  had  taken  his  seat, 
a  vacancy  having  occurred  in  the  senate,  he  Avas 
chosen  without  any  regular  opposition  to  rill  it,  an 
honor  which  was  again  conferred  upon  him  in  1833 
by  a  sort  of  general  consent  and  acclamation.  How 
he  bore  himself  as  a  senator,  in  the  great  and  vital 
questions  which  came  up  for  discussion,  is  too  well 
known  to  require  a  detailed  account. 

We  can  not  however  refrain  from  quoting  an  ac- 
count of  the  debate  on  the  tariff  question  in  1833, 
when  Mr.  Webster  made  his  great  effort  in  reply  to 
Robert  Y.  Hayne  of  South  Carolina.  It  is  thus  de- 
scribed by  a  writer  in  the  National  Magazine : 

"The  nullification  fever  had  risen  almost  frenzy 
high.  Members  of  all  parties  had  deserted  the 
lower  house  to  witness  the  splintering  of  lances  be- 
tween Robert  Y.  Hayne,  of  South  Carolina,  and 
Daniel  Webster.  When  we  entered  the  hall,  Gen. 
Hayne  was  speaking.  He  was  a  man  of  general 
youthful  appearance,  with  his  shirt  collar  turned 
over   his   cravat,  and   his   hair   smoothly   brushed 


DANIEL  WEBSTER.  211 

across  his  forehead.  He  was  of  the  middle  stature, 
and  well  made.  He  was  speaking  energetically; 
his  eyes  were  peculiarly  brilliant,  and  his  face  was 
extremely  pale ;  he  moved  up  and  down  the  aisles 
formed  between  the  desks,  with  a  rapid  and  agita- 
ted step;  his  gestures  were  vehement,  and  he  ap- 
peared to  be  under  a  high  state  of  excitement.  We 
were  peculiarly  struck  with  bis  whole  appearance, 
and  the  tone  of  feeling  evident  in  the  chamber. 
Mr.  Calhoun,  then  vice-president,  was  in  the  chair. 
With  his  large,  steady  and  vigilant  eyes  witnessing 
the  first  great  battle  of  his  doctrine,  he  seemed  the 
very  spirit  of  embodied  interest;  not  a  word,  not  a 
gesture  of  Gen.  Hayne  escaped  his  lion  look.  The 
senate  was  deeply  interested,  as  a  matter  of  course. 
The  language  of  Gen.  Hayne  was  rich  and  vigo- 
rous; and  his  powerful  sketch  of  the  effect  of  the 
impost  law  on  the  south — the  description  he  gave 
of  her  people — his  own  bold  and  hazardous  elocu- 
tion and  impetuous  bearing — were  evidently  mak- 
ing a  strong  impression  on  the  body.  From  time 
to  time,  attention  would  be  directed  from  him  to 
the  gentleman  who  was  expected  to  answer  him, 
and  whom  Gen.  Hayne  attacked,  under  cover  of  a 
terrible  and  galling  fire. 

Cold,  serene,  dark,  and  melancholy,  that  man, 
thus  assailed,  sat  apart,  bleak  and  frowning  as  a 
mountain  rock;  he  evidently  felt  the  gigantic  influ- 
ences that  were  at  work  around  him,  but  his  pro- 
found mind  was  strengthening  itself  for  the  contest. 
And  how  deeply  solemn  was  that  hour,  that  mo- 
ment !  how  grand  that  scene !  and  what  were  the 
meditations  and  spirit-rallyings  of  that  dark  man! 
His  countenance  wavered  not  during  the  whole  of 
that  tremendous  speech;  assault  after  assault  was 
made  upon  him,  but  yet  he  neither  turned  to  the 
right  nor  left,  but  calmly  and  gallantly,  like  a  sol- 
dier waiting  the  signal,  he  bided  his  hour.  That 
time  of  retaliation  came,  swift  as  the  thoughts  of 


212  DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

vengeance,  to  Daniel  Webster.     Who  will  forget 
the  exordium  of  that  remarkable  effort,  the  lashing 
sarcasm,  the  withering  tones  of  that  voice,  and  the 
temper  of  his  language?     General  Hayne  (we  re- 
member distinctly,)  changed  color,  and   appeared 
much  disconcerted.     But  who  that  heard  him  will 
permit  the  peroration  to  be  forgotten?  those  closing 
passages  of  grandeur,  that  majestic  allusion  to  the 
flag  of  freedom  and  his  country.     Looking,  with  his 
dark  and  lustrous  eye,  through  the  glass  dome  of 
the  chamber,  over  which  he  could  see  that  banner 
floating,  he   delivered   an  apostrophe,   which   has 
never   been   surpassed,    and   seldom   equalled.     It 
composed  a  figure  of  the  most  thrilling  interest — a 
burst  of  solemn  and  pathetic  feeling;  and,  coming 
from   such   a   source  (a  man  generally    esteemed 
phlegmatic),  it  was  electric.     It  was  like  the  beam 
of  sunset,  or  the  gleam  of  summer  lightning,  radia- 
ting the  brow  of  the  cliff  to  which  we  have  above 
alluded." 

At  the  presidential  election  of  1836,  Mr.  Webster 
received  the  vote  of  Massachusetts  for  the  presi- 
dency. 

In  1839,  Mr.  Webster  visited  England,  where  he 
was  received  in  the  most  flattering  manner,  his  re- 
reputation  having  become  universal.  Returning 
home  he  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  great  presi- 
dential contest  of  1840,  which  eventuated  in  the  de- 
feat of  the  democratic  party.  He  was  called  to  the 
first  place  in  the  cabinet,  by  President  Harrison, 
with  the  full  approbation  of  the  triumphant  party. 
After  General  Harrison's  death,  Mr.  Webster  con- 
tinued secretary  of  state  under  President  Tyler,  and 
did  not  retire  from  that  office  when  his  colleagues 
resigned  their  places,  after  the  bill  enacting  a  na- 
tional bank  had  been  refused  the  executive  sanc- 
tion. Mr.  Webster  had  entered  the  cabinet,  it  is 
understood,  with  the  intention  of  settling  several 
questions  connected  with  foreign  affairs  and  our 


DANIEL  WEBSTER.  213 

commercial  policy;  and  he  very  properly  did  not 
think  it  necessary  to  lose  sight  of  these,  in  a  contest 
relating  solely  to  matters  connected  Avith  our  do- 
mestic financial  policy.  It  would  be  unjust  to  Mr. 
Webster  to  omit  to  say,  that  his  opinions  on  great 
questions  underwent  no  change  because  of  his  re- 
maining in  the  cabinet;  and  he  left  that  body  so 
soon  as  Mr.  Tyler  showed  a  determination  to  favor 
the  democracy,  and  had  commenced  those  move- 
ments which  resulted  in  the  annexation  of  Texas. 
He  was  secretary  of  state  more  than  two  years,  dur- 
ing which  time  the  north-eastern  boundary  question 
was  settled,  and  a  source  of  irritation  between  the 
United  States  and  England  dried  up. 

Mr.  Webster  remained  about  two  years  in  private 
life,  when  he  Was  again  elected  to  the  United  States 
senate  by  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts,  in  place 
of  Mr.  Choate.  His  term  of  service  will  expire  in 
1851. 

Mr.  Webster  is  a  member  of  a  Christian  church. 
He  is  the  devoted  friend  of  the  Bible,  and  its  warm 
defender.  He  remembers  the  sabbath,  and  rever- 
ences the  sanctuary,  and  is  the  true  friend  of  the 
ministry  of  Christ.  He  is  the  liberal  supporter  of 
the  gospel  at  home  and  abroad.  These  things  cor- 
respond with  a  sentiment,  which  he  publicly  ex- 
pressed, "the  fear  of  God,  after  all,  is  the  beginning 
of  wisdom." 


214  LYDIA    HUNTLEY    SIGOURNEY. 


LYDIA  HUNTLEY  SIGOURNEY. 

EELINGLY  and  truthfully  is 
the  cause  of  literary  women 
advocated  in  the  following  ob- 
servations: 

That  women  sometimes  publish 
from  the  impulse  of  vanity,  it  were 
useless  to  deny;  but,  in  such  cases,  the  effort  is 
usually  worthy  of  the  motive:  it  touches  no  heart, 
because  it  emanates  from  none ;  it  kindles  no  pure 
imagination,  it  excites  no  holy  impulses,  because 
the  impulse  from  which  it  originated  is  neither  lofty 
nor  worthy.  It  may  be  safely  asserted,  that  no 
woman  who  has  written  or  published  from  the 
promptings  of  ambition  or  vanity,  alone,  was  ever 
successful,  or  ever  will  be.  She  may  gain  notoriety, 
but  that  is  a  consequence  of  authorship,  which  must 
be  ever  painful  to  a  woman  of  true  genius,  unless  is 
added  to  it  that  public  respect  and  private  affection, 
which  can  never  be  secured  by  wish  alone. 

Literature  is  an  honorable  profession,  and  that 
women  devote  a  portion  of  their  time  to  it,  requires 
neither  excuse  nor  palliation,  so  long  as  they  pre- 
serve the  delicacy  and  gentleness  which  are  the  at- 
tributes of  their  sex.  So  long  as  the  dignity  and 
delicacy  of  sex  is  preserved,  there  can  be  no  compe- 
tition between  men  and  women  of  genius.  In 
literature,  as  in  every  thing  else,  the  true  woman 
will  feel  how  much  better  it  is  to  owe  something  to 
the  protection,  generosity  and  forbearance  of  the 
stronger  and  sterner  sex,  than  to  enter  into  an  un- 
natural strife  in  the  broad  arena  which  men  claim 
for  the  trial  of  masculine  intellect.  Open  the  foun- 
tains of  domestic  love  to  her,  and  there  is  little  dan- 
ger that  her  genius  will  stray  from  the  sunny  nooks 
of  literature,  or  that  she  will  forsake  the  pure  wells 


C\?<y £^< ^^  (yL^c^rcZSci^/  cscc? 


cS(c?r>  c^<y&^£- 


/ 


LYDIA   HUNTLEY    SIGOURNEY.  215 

of  affection,  to  leap  into  the  high-road  of  politics; 
to  lose  her  identity  in  the  smoke  of  a  battle-field, 
or  to  gather  up  popular  applause  and  unsatisfactory 
admiration,  in  place  of  tenderness,  and  all  those 
home  comforts  which  cling  so  naturally  around  the 
feminine  heart. 

It  has  been  beautifully  said,  that  the  heart  is 
woman's  dominion.  Cast  her  not  forth,  then,  from 
the  little  kingdom  which  she  may  do  so  much  to 
purify  and  embellish.  Her  gentle  culture  has  kept 
many  of  those  rugged  passes  green,  where  sterner 
laborers  might  have  left  them  sterile  and  blossom- 
less.  If  you  would  cultivate  genius  aright,  cherish 
it  among  the  most  holy  of  your  household  gods. 
Make  it  a  domestic  plant.  Let  its  roots  strike  deep 
in  your  home,  nor  care  that  its  perfume  floats  to  a 
thousand  casements  besides  your  own,  so  long  as 
its  greenness  and  its  blossoms  are  for  you.  Flowers 
of  the  sweetest  breath  give  their  perfume  most  lav- 
ishly to  the  breeze,  yet  without  exhausting  their 
own  delicate  urns.  Why  then  should  you  refuse  to 
gather  the  mantle  of  domestic  love  about  the  woman 
of  genius? 

Why  do  they  write?  Why  does  the  bird  sing 
but  that  its  little  heart  is  gushing  over  with  melody  ? 
Why  does  the  flower  blossom,  but  that  it  has  been 
drenched  with  dew,  and  kindled  up  by  the  sunshine, 
until  its  perfume  bursts  the  petals,  and  lavishes  its 
sweetness  on  the  air?  Why  does  the  artist  become 
restless  with  a  yearning  want,  as  the  creatures  of 
his  fancy  spring  to  life  beneath  his  pencil?  When 
his  ideal  has  taken  to  itself  a  form  of  beauty,  does 
he  rest  till  some  kindred  eye  has  gazed  with  his 
upon  the  living  canvas?  His  heart  is  full  of  a 
strange  joy,  and  he  would  impart  something  of  that 
joy  to  another.  Is  this  vanity?  No,  it  is  a  beauti- 
ful desire  for  sympathy.  The  feelings  may  partake 
of  a  love  of  praise,  but  it  is  one  which  would  be 
degraded  by  the  title  of  ambition. 


216  LYDIA   HUNTLEY   SIGOURNEY. 

Ask  any  woman  of  genius  why  she  writes,  and 
she  will  tell  you  it  is  because  she  can  not  help  it; 
that  there  are  times  when  a  power  which  she  can 
neither  comprehend  nor  resist,  impels  her  to  the 
sweet  exercise  of  her  intellect;  that  at  such  mo- 
ments there  is  happiness  in  the  very  exertion;  a 
thrilling'  excitement  which  makes  the  action  of 
thought  "its  own  exceeding  reward;"  that  her 
heart  is  crowded  with  feelings  which  pant  for  lan- 
guage and  for  sympathy,  and  that  ideas  gush  up 
from  the  mind  unsought  and  uncalled  for,  as  the 
waters  leap  from  their  fount  when  the  earth  is  de- 
luged with  moisture.  I  am  almost  certain  that  the 
most  beautiful  things  that  enrich  our  literature, 
have  sprung  to  life  from  the  sweet,  irresistible  im- 
pulse for  creation,  which  pervaded  the  heart  of  the 
author,  without  motive  and  without  aim. 

The  motives  which  urge  literary  women  to  pub- 
lish, are  probably  as  various  as  those  which  lead 
persons  to  any  other  calling.  Many  may  place 
themselves  before  the  world  from  a  natural  and 
strictly  feminine  thirst  for  sympathy;  from  the 
same  feeling  which  prompts  a  generous  boy  to  call 
his  companions  about  him  when  he  has  found  a 
robbin's  nest,  hid  away  among  the  blossoming 
boughs  of  an  old  apple  tree,  or  a  bed  of  ripe  straw- 
berries melting  in  their  own  ruby  light  through  the 
grass,  on  a  hill-side.  The  discovery  would  be  al- 
most valueless,  could  he  find  none  to  gaze  on  the 
blue  eggs  exposed  in  the  bottom  of  the  nest,  or  to 
revel  with  him  in  the  luscious  treasure  of  the  straw- 
berry bed;  so  the  enjoyment  of  a  mental  discovery 
is  enhanced  by  companionship  and  appreciation. 

This  most  distinguished  literary  lady  in  America, 
and  one  whose  fame  is  of  larger  standing  than  any 
of  her  female  contemporaries,  is  a  native  of  Norwich, 
Connecticut.  She  was  born  on  the  1st  of  Septem- 
ber, 1791. 

She  was  an  only  child.     Her  parents  were  not 


LYDIA   HUNTLEY   SIGOURNEY.  217 

rich,  which  makes  the  respect  which  they  received 
from  the  prosperous  and  wealthy  around  them,  still 
more  creditable  to  them.  Especially  is  it  honorable 
to  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  who  had  iio  birthright 
but  her  genius  and  a  good  name,  and  yet  has 
reached  a  position  which  mere  wealth  must  envy  in 
vain.  The  rugged  energies  of  men  very  often  flour- 
ish best  in  defiance  of  fortune.  Poverty  and  obscu- 
rity spur  faculties  which  would  languish  amid 
wealth  and  luxury.  But  it  is  very  rare  that  one  of 
the  softer  sex  is  able  to  win  for  herself  all  the  ad- 
vantages which  fortune  has  denied  her.  But  Mrs. 
Sigonrney  is  one  of  these  exceptions. 

Her  mother's  name  before  marriage  was  Went- 
worth,  whose  descent  has  been  distinctly  traced,, 
first  to  the  old  tory  governors  of  New  Hampshire, 
who  were  especially  honored  for  their  loyalty  by 
the  crown  of  England,  and  subsequently,  through 
an  immense  line  of  ancestors  to  the  great  earl  of 
Strafford,  whose  lordly  head  was  brought  to  the 
block  during  the  reign  of  Charles  First.  She  pos- 
sessed much  natural  vivacity,  not  a  little  beauty 
of  person,  and  a  powerful  memory.  She  did  not, 
however,  enjoy  the  advantages  of  an  early  regular 
education;  so  that  her  daughter  was  compelled  to 
rely  upon  her  own  instincts  in  estimating  the  im- 
portance of  mental  acquisition  and  in  resolving  to 
make  it. 

Mr.  Huntley,  father  of  Mrs.  Sigourney,  was  of 
Scotch  descent.  He  enlisted  early  as  a  sold  ier  in  our 
revolutionary  struggle,  and  joined  the  first  regiment 
who  marched,  in  1775,  from  the  eastern  part  of  the 
state  of  Connecticut,  under  Gen.  Jedediah  Hunting- 
ton. He  afterwards  retired  to  his  small  farm,  which 
he  cultivated  with  a  view  both  to  profit  and  to 
taste.  His  circumstances,  as  we  have  already 
hinted,  were  not  affluent,  but  were  such  as  to 
make  industry  necessary,  beneficence  practica- 
ble and  luxury  impossible.     They  exhibited  most 

28 


218  LYDIA   HUNTLEY    SIGOURNEY. 

faithfully  the  aurea  mediocritas  of  Horace.     He  was 
faithful  during  life  to  one  rule:  to  "owe  no  man 
anything."     He  never  bought,  without  paying  the 
price  on  the  spot,  and  enforced  the  same  rule  in  re- 
spect to  the  purchases  made  by  his  family.     He  was 
remarkable,  perhaps,  more  than  for  anything  else, 
for  his  placid  disposition.     No  hasty  word  ever  rose 
to  his  lips  or  angry  flush  to  his  cheek.     This  equa- 
nimity seems   to   be    most   fully  inherited    by   his 
daughter.     His  piety  was  fervent,  and  his  benevo- 
lence was  requited  by  the  love  and  respect  of  all 
who  knew  him.     He  lived  to  reach  his  eighty-eighth 
year,  retaining  to  the  end,  an  elastic  step,    a  florid 
cheek,  and  bright,   brown  hair,  unsprinkled  to  the 
last.     He  died  on  the   13th  of  August,   1839.     His 
wife's  death  had  already  occurred  in  1833.     The 
affectionate  daughter  of  this  worthy  pair  had  the 
sad  satisfaction  of  closing  the  eyes  of  both  under 
her  own  roof. 

Our  materials  for  sketching  the  early  life  of  Mrs. 
Sigourney  are  by  no  means  full,  but  are  unquestion- 
ably accurate,  having  been  derived  from  a  person 
acquainted  with  Miss  Huntley  in  her  younger  days, 
and,  like  her,  a  native  of  Norwich.     Persons  gene- 
rally expect  to  hear  of  some  extraordinary  develop- 
ment  of    precocity   in   the    childhood   of  genius, 
although  mere  precocity  proves  very  little,  and  dis- 
appoints quite  as  often  as  gratifies  the  hopes  predi- 
cated upon  it.     But  Lydia  Huntley  was  a  precocious 
child.     At  the  age  of  three  she  read  the  Bible  well. 
At  the  age  of  seven  or  eight  she  began  to  show  the 
splendid  bias  of  her  mind,  and  composed  verses  for 
her  own  amusement.     This  habit  she  continued,  for 
years,  in  connection  with  another  quite  as  remarka- 
ble— that  of  concealing  them.     Committing  them 
to  her  private  journal,  as  if  they  were  a  part  of  the 
record  of  her  life  and  feelings,  she  kept  them  as 
sacred  only  to  herself.     Perhaps  here  is  the  secret 
of  that  truth  to  herself,  to  her  own  heart,  which  we 


LYDIA    HUNTLEY    SIGOURNEY.  219 

have  already  explained  as  being  the  distinguishing 
excellence  of  Mrs.  Sigourney's  writings.  She  was 
an  only  child,  and  had  no  playmates.  This  drove 
her  to  seek  companionship  in  books,  and  made  her 
diary  the  confidante  of  her  childhood.  Bat  we  are 
in  advance  of  our  story. 

Mrs.  Sigourney's  early  life  is  inseparably  woven 
with  that  of  one  of  those  benevolent  ladies  of  the 
olden  time,  whose  good  qualities  of  heart  ought 
to  be  more  estimable  than  genius.  We  allude  to 
Madam  Lathrop,  a  daughter  of  Hon.  John  Talcott, 
once  governor  of  Connecticut,  and  a  resident  of 
Hartford.  She  was  the  widow  of  Dr.  D.  Lathrop, 
of  Norwich.  Mr.  Huntley,  father  of  Mrs.  Sigour- 
ney,  acted  as  the  steward  of  this  excellent  lady 
until  her  death,  and  lived  with  his  wife  in  the  fine 
family  mansion,  where  their  only  daughter  was 
born.  Madam  Lathrop  had  lost  her  own  children, 
while  they  were  quite  young,  and  seemed  to  pour 
upon  this  lovely  and  timid  child  of  genius  all  the 
wealth  of  her  best  affections,  for  fourteen  years. 
Here  the  latter  was  surrounded  with  many  advan- 
tages which  her  parents  could  never  have  afforded 
her.  The  house  of  her  benefactress  was  the  favo- 
rite resort  of  distinguished  persons,  both  of  Con- 
necticut and  the  other  states  of  the  Union.  Intro- 
duced into  such  society  and  nurtured  in  such  an 
atmosphere,  Madam  Lathrop' s  ward  could  not,  with 
her  fine  natural  delicacy,  have  failed  to  imbibe  the 
characteristics  of  true  gentility.  And  richly  have 
those  germs  of  character  matured,  for  never  for  a 
moment  could  any  one  doubt  the  perfect  affability, 
the  ladylikenessof  Mrs.  Sigourney's  manners.  She 
is  respectful  without  the  slightest  loss  of  conscious 
self-respect,  and  condescending  to  the  humblest 
without  seeming  to  condescend.  She  had  a  good 
school  and  was  a  good  scholar.  Her  benefactress 
also  had  a  small  library,  selected  with  the  purest 
taste,  from  which  the  young  Lydia  drew  untainted 


220  LYDIA   HUNTLEY    SIGOURNEY. 

sweetness.     And  yet„what  heart  however  loving, 
or  mind  however  sagacious,  would  have  recognized 
in  this  young  girl,  remarkable  for  the  delicate  rich- 
ness of  "her  cheek  and  the  sweet  docility  of  her  dis- 
position— as  she  sat  in  herlittle  chair,  reading  aloud 
to    her   beloved    benefactress   from  Young's  Night 
Thoughts  or  Bishop  Sherlock's  discourses — or  curi- 
ously conning  her  own  rude  rhymes  at  eight  years 
of  age — or  running  in  glee  over  the  turf  of  the  court 
yard  in  front  of  the  mansion,  decked  with  roses  and 
sweet  briar,  of  Madam  Lathrop — or  rushing  through 
thespruce-arched  gate-way — or  sweeping  floors  with 
elaborate  skill — or  trying  to  iron — or  steadying  the 
fruit-tree  that  her  father  was  planting—  or  dropping 
the  garden-seed's  behind  him — or  spinning  upon  her 
mother's    great     wheel! — ever    accompanying    her 
childish  industry  with   a  happy  song — the  future 
Hemans  of  America?     Who   would   have   guessed 
that  she  would  in  latter  years  be  the  admired  of 
the  great — the  confidential  correspondent  of  Han- 
nahTviore — a  friend  of  Joanna  Bailie  and  the  count- 
ess of  Blessington — the  recipient  of  costly  gifts  from 
royalty  in  honor  of  her  muse — the  most  famous  of 
the  female   bards  of  her  country?     Surely,   none 
would  have  guessed  the  secret  of  the  future. 

Miss  Huntley  enjoyed  the  best  advantages  of  a 
school  education,  which  were  furnished  in  her  vi- 
cinity. Modern  schemes  have  materially  widened 
the  range  of  studies  to  be  pursued  by  young  ladies 
— in  some  cases  to  a  miraculous  extent.  But  half 
a  century  ago,  few  studies  were  pursued  by  girls,  and 
in  these  they  were  most  thoroughly  taught.  All 
experience  demonstrates  the  superior  wisdom  of  the 
latter  course.  For  although  the  ancient  range  of 
study  might  wisely  be  made  more  ample,  yet  no 
modern  improvement  will  do  away  the  necessity  of 
learning  thoroughly  whatever  is  learned  at  all. 

Then°  too,  the  sexes  were  not,  contrary  to  the  law 
of  nature  as  developed  in  the  family,  penned  up 


LYDIA   HUNTLEY    SIGOURNEY.  221 

apart,  to  take  away  from  one  the  stimulous  of  mas- 
culine strength  and  from  the  other  the  softening' 
influences  of  female  delicacy.  We  remember  that 
we  once  heard  Mrs.  Sigourney  say  distinctly,  that 
one  of  the  most  profitable  periods  of  her  early  cult- 
ure was  that,  in  which  she,  with  several  other  young 
ladies,  successfully  struggled  to  retain  their  places 
with  honor  in  a  class,  containing  several  young  men 
of  talent,  who  were  pursuing  at  school  the  studies  of 
the  first  year  in  Yale  college.  Perhaps  we  ought 
to  add,  that  one  of  the  young  gentlemen  of  this 
class  was  afterwards  a  judge  of  the  supreme  court 
of  Connecticut,  and  a  senator  of  the  United  States 
■ — the  late  lamented  Jabez  W.  Huntington.  An- 
other was  Hon.  Henry  Strong,  still  an  eminent  law- 
yer of  the  same  state.  We  regret,  that  we  do  not 
know  the  name  of  Miss  Huntley's  instructor. 

Miss  Huntley  was,  of  course,  successful  in  school. 
The  acquisition  of  knowledge  was  her  amusement 
and  she  swept,  with  the  monopoly  of  merit,  all  the 
rare  prizes  and  medals  and  badges  of  school  honor. 

Imagine  then  her  distress,  when  her  parents,  per- 
suaded by  some  notable  persons  that  more  learning 
than  she  had  acquired  would  inevitably  unfit  a  girl 
for  a  contented  discharge  of  domestic  duties,  re- 
moved her  from  school  at  the  tender  age  of  thirteen. 
The  disappointed  child  sought  in  needle-work  and 
in  the  ever-favorite  pen  a  solace  for  the  sad  change. 

The  next  year,  her  fifteenth,  was  made  mournful- 
ly memorable  by  the  death  of  her  beloved  benefac- 
tress, Madame  Lathrop,  at  the  age  of  88.  A  deep 
sorrow  for  the  first  time  touched  her  child's  heart. 
But  the  good  old  lady  did  not  leave  her  charge  com- 
fortless. She  bequeathed  to  the  young  mourner  a 
friend, — such  a  friend  as  rarely  falls  to  the  Jot  of  a 
mortal, — a  friend,  who,  although  an  exquisite  and 
costly  stone  edifice  proudly  commemorates  his  be- 
nificence  and  is  inscribed  with  his  name,  ought 
ever  to  be  remembered  as  the  Maecenas  of  the  sub- 


222  LYDIA   HUNTLEY    SIGOURNEY. 

ject  of  this  sketch.  Many  a  humble  heart  remem- 
bers his  beneficence:  persons,  who  have  risen  to 
wealth  and  distinction,  recall  with  pride  the  en- 
couragement he  gave  to  their  youthful  struggles; 
the  Wadsworth  Atheneum, — with  its  vast  library 
for  young  men,  valuable  historical  collection  and 
excellent  gallery  of  paintings, — stands  on  the  site 
of  his  own  ancestral  mansion:  but  Daniel  Wads- 
worth  would  go  down  to  posterity,  without  other 
aids,  as  that  of  the  honored  benefactor  of  the  most 
distinguished  female  writer  of  our  country.  He 
was  a  nephew  of  Madam  Lathrop,  the  son  of  a 
commissary  general  of  the  revolutionary  army,  and 
the  inheriter  of  vast  wealth,  which,  as  Heaven  and 
men  will  bear  him  witness,  was  well  used.  He 
died  only  a  few  months  since  in  the  city  of  his  resi- 
dence, Hartford,  Connecticut,  and  his  death  was 
mourned  as  a  public  calamity. 

Mr.  Huntley,  after  the  death  of  Madam  Lathrop, 
bought  a  small  estate  of  his  own,  and  his  daughter, 
at  about  the  same  time,  made  her  first  visit  to  Hart- 
ford, where  she  now  resides.  She  returned  and 
lived  with  her  parents,  making  occasional  journeys 
to  Hartford,  for  some  years.  During  this  time  she 
became  fired  with  ambition  to  become  a  teacher, 
and  was  happy  in  the  extreme  when  she  enjoyed 
the  privilege  of  teaching,  for  six  hours  a  day  during 
a  single  summer,  two  young  ladies,  in  her  father's 
house.  So  enthusiastic  was  she  in  the  instruction 
of  her  two  pupils,  as  to  have  a  regular  public  exami- 
nation of  them,  at  the  end  of  the  term,  for  the  grati- 
fication of  their  friends.  Being  desirous  to  perfect 
herself  in  the  art  of  teaching,  she,  with  a  female 
friend,  went  to  Hartford  to  learn  the  accomplish- 
ments of  drawing,  painting  and  embroidery.  Short- 
ly after,  in  connection  with  her  friend,  she  instruct- 
ed a  large  school  of  young  ladies.  Her  associate 
was  Miss  Ann  Maria  Hyde,  whose  biography,  from 


LYDIA   HUNTLEY    SIGOURNEY.  223 

the  pen  of  Mrs.  Sigoumey,  appeared  in  a  late  Maga- 
zine. 

The  annual  election  in  Connecticut — meaning 
the  occasion  of  the  governor's  inauguration,  which 
takes  place  one  month  after  his  eleciion  by  the  suf- 
frages of  his  fellow-citizens — is  celebrated  to  the 
present  time  with  considerable  pomp.  It  was  dur- 
ing the  election  festivities  of  IS  14,  that  Miss  Hunt- 
ley was  invited  to  spend  a  few  weeks  with  Madam 
Wadsworth,  the  mother  of  Mr.  Daniel  Wadsworth. 
He  found  out  how  agreeable  a  charge  had  been 
confided  to  him  by  his  deceased  relative  and  pre- 
vailed upon  her  to  stay  in  Hartford  and  study 
French.  Soon  after,  he  obtained  for  her  a  select 
school  for  young  ladies,  which  she  instructed  for 
several  years  with  great  success  and  delight.  It 
was  for  her  pupils  that  she  composed  some  of  her 
most  beautiful  prose  pieces — pieces  which  will  be 
current  in  rhetorical  works  for  the  instruction  of  the 
young  while  the  English  language  lasts.  Most  of 
our  young  readers  will  remember  the  solemn  rhap- 
sody, beginning  thus:  "I  have  seen  a  man  in  the 
glory  of  his  strength."  While  Miss  Huntley  was 
engaged  in  teaching  in  Hartford,  she  resided  in  the 
elegant  mansion  of  Madam  Wadsworth,  until  3  817, 
when  this  estimable  lady  died  at  the  age  of  84. 
Her  character  was  pure  and  her  talents  good.  We 
have  in  our  possession  a  copy  of  Mrs.  Sigourney's 
beautiful  tribute  to  this  benefactress,  finely  printed 
on  silk. 

During  her  residence  in  this  family,  she  found  the 
first  encouragement  to  write  which  had  ever  been 
tendered  to  her  genius.  Mr.  Wadsworth  found 
out  her  habit  of  writing  and  concealing  verses, 
and,  struck  with  amazement  at  her  proficiency,  de- 
termined upon  their  publication.  He  extracted 
from  the  journals  which  she  had  commenced  keep- 
ing at  the  age  of  eleven,  such  pieces  as  pleased 
his  fancy — literally  copying  many  of  them  with  his 


224  LYDIA    HUNTLEY    SIGOURNEY. 

own  hand.  His  excellent  wife,  whose  memory 
is  held  by  hundreds  of  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  want  to  be  sainted,  assisted  in  this  generous 
task.  Mr.  Wadsworth  then  made  personal  efforts 
to  procure  subscriptions  for  the  publication  of  the 
collection — inasmuch  as  to  publish  a  literary  work 
in  those  days  without  subscriptions  was  equivalent 
to  paying  a  high  price  for  oblivion  in  advance.  He 
succeeded  admirably,  and  she  received  from  the 
edition  of  her  Moral  Pieces  in  Prose  and  Verse, 
published  in  1815,  a  larger  sum  than  ever  accrued 
to  her  from  any  single  edition  of  any  of  her  other 
writings.  The  dutiful  daughter,  with  overwhelm- 
ing joy,  laid  the  first  fruits  of  her  genius  at  the  feet 
of  her  aged  and  straitened  parents.  She  enjoyed 
the  friendship  of  Mr.  Wadsworth  and  his  ladv  (who 
died  in  1846)  until  the  death  of  both.  Mrs.  Wads- 
worth was  the  daughter  of  the  first  Governor  Trum- 
bull. Mr.  Wadsworth  departed  this  life  last  sum- 
mer, aged  77. 

Mrs.  Sigourney's  literary  life  was  now  fairly  be- 
gun and  her  fame  grew  apnce.  She  published 
many  useful  and  instructive  works — one  a  tribute 
to  her  friend,  Miss  Hyde,  and  another,  to  her  bene- 
factress, Madam  Lathrop.  Her  works  were  full  of 
religious  and  moral  lessons,  in  which  lay  her  forte. 
In  1819,  she  was  married  to  Mr.  Charles  Sigourney, 
a  merchant  of  Hartford,  who  in  early  life,  at  least, 
possessed  strong  literary  predilections,  which  he 
cultivated  with  ardor.  Mr.  Sigourney  is  of  Hugue- 
not descent,  and  was  educated  in  England.  The 
wedded  pair  lived  in  one  of  the  most  beautiful  spots 
in  Connecticut — known  to  the  present  time  as 
Sigourney  Place  on  Lord's  hill,  Hartford.  It  lies  on 
a  delicious  slope  finely  planted  with  trees  and  shrubs, 
and  skirted  on  one  side  by  a  high  hedge,  on  the 
other  with  a  pleasant  mill  stream.  On  one  side  is  a 
wood,  and  in  the  rear  rich  open  fields.  Mrs.  Sigour- 
ney became  the  mother  of  two  children  and  still 


LYDIA   HUNTLEY    SIGOURNEY.  225 

continued  to  make  additions  to  the  literature  of  the 
country;  having  issued  from  the  press,  first  and 
last,  thirty-five  volumes.  Some  unforeseen  changes 
made  it  necessary  for  Mrs.  Sigourney,  as  much  to 
the  regret  of  the  public  as  herself,  to  leave,  in  the 
summer  of  1838,  her  beautiful  residence.  But.  it 
will  ever  bear  her  name. 

In  1840,  Mrs.  Sigourney  made  a  voyage  to  Eu- 
rope, where  she  staid  more  than  a  year,  making  the 
acquaintance  and  winning  the  good  will  of  some  of 
the  greatest  characters  of  the  day.  She  has  since 
enjoyed  a  correspondence  with  some  of  the  first  la- 
dies of  Europe.  A  long  time  since,  we  were  favor- 
ed with  the  perusal  of  some  passages,  in  epistles 
from  persons  of  distinction  in  England,  Scotland, 
and  Sweden,  honorable  to  our  country,  and  proving 
that  American  genius  is  sure  to  make  America  re- 
spected. A  piece,  written  by  her  in  honor  of  the 
magnificent  celebration  of  the  return  of  Napoleon's 
remains  from  St.  Helena,  so  pleased  the  queen  of 
France,  that  she  acknowledged  her  appreciation  of 
it  by  the  gift  of  a  magnificent  bracelet.  While 
abroad,  Mrs.  Sigourney  published  two  volumes  in 
London  which  were  warmly  praised.  Soon  after 
her  return,  she  gave  some  of  her  impressions  of  Eu- 
rope in  the  volume  entitled  Pleasant  Memoirs  of 
Pleasant  Lands. 

AVe  have  much  more  to  say,  and  fain  would  we 
quote  illustrations  of  Mrs.  Sigourney's  character  and 
genius  from  her  writings.  But  our  limits  forbid,  at 
least,  for  the  present.  She  has  now  arrived  at  full 
maturity  of  age,  yet  her  complexion  still  retains  a 
soft  ruddy  glow,  and  her  brown  hair  has  not  a 
speck  of  grey.  Her  profile  is  unusually  classical. 
Her  eyes  are  of  a  light  grey.  Her  expression  is  the 
soul  of  amiability,  and  years  have  not  affected  the 
freshness  of  her  spirit  or  the  sparkle  of  her  mind. 
Summery  and  genial  as  the  air  of  June,  her  dispo- 
sition is  such  as  to  win  the  stranger  and  attach 
29 


226  JOHN    E.    WOOL. 

friends  to  her  as  with  chords  of  steel.  May  she  live 
long  to  honor — by  her  character  and  genius — the 
women  of  America — 

"  Hemans  in  mind,  and  Hannah  More  in  heart." 

Literary  Magazine. 


JOHN  E.  WOOL. 


RIGHT  and  unfading  are  the  laurels  of 
this  distinguished  general,  although  he 
may  not  have  been  brought  so  promi- 
nently before  the  public  as  some  of  his 
brethren  in  command.  An  examina- 
tion of  his  career  since  he  entered  our  army, 
will  show  that  he  possesses  military  talents 
^  of  the  very  highest  order.  Nor  is  he  more 
remarkable  for  these  than  for  the  virtues  of  so- 
cial life.  He  is  equally  estimable  as  a  soldier 
and  as  a  citizen. 
General  Wool  is  a  native  of  the  state  of  New 
York.  His  family  were  whigs  of  the  revolution. 
He  was  born  in  Orange  county,  but  has  resided  in 
Rensselaer  county  since  his  early  childhood.  Hav- 
ing lost  his  father  at  that  period,  he  was  taken  in 
charge  by  his  grandfather,  with  whom  he  lived  till 
he  was  twelve  years  of  age.  He  then  removed  to 
the  city  of  Troy  (where  his  family  now  dwell),  to 
acquire  a  knowledge  of  business,  with  a  view  to 
his  becoming  a  merchant.  In  that  city  he  prose- 
cuted this  profession  with  success,  until  the  loss  of 
his  property  by  fire  gave  a  different  direction  to  the 
energy  which  distinguished  him  as  a  merchant. 
He  accepted  a  commission  as  captain  in  the  13th 
regiment  of  United  States  infantry.  He  has  thus 
been  truly  the  founder  of  his  own  fortune  and  fame. 


: 


JOHN  E.  WOOL.  227 

His  commission  bears  date  April,  1812.  Having 
raised  a  company  in  Troy,  he  made  his  military 
debut  at  the  heights  of  Queenston.  Previous  to 
that  remarkable  action,  our  army  had  suffered  so 
many  reverses  as  to  occasion  the  imputation  of  mis- 
conduct and  cowardice  against  our  officers  and 
troops,  and  therefore  it  was  thought  necessary  to 
make  some  brilliant  effort  in  order  to  redeem  their 
character,  and  to  raise  in  the  country  a  proper  spirit 
for  prosecuting  the  war.  Accordingly  Major-Gen. 
Stephen  Van  Rensselaer,  who  had  received  the 
command  of  the  militia  of  the  state  of  New  York, 
on  the  Niagara  frontier,  and  had  established  his 
head-quarters  at  Lewiston,  determined  to  storm  the 
heights  of  Queenston,  a  formidable  post,  fortified 
and  held  by  a  part  of  the  British  army.  A  first  de- 
tachment of  six  hundred  men  was  despatched  on 
this  hazardous  service,  under  the  command  of  Col. 
Van  Rensselaer,  aid-de-camp  to  the  general,  and 
Lt.-Col.  Chrystie.  In  the  detachment  were  Capt. 
Wool  and  three  companies  of  the  13th.  When 
they  arrived  at  the  Niagara  river,  it  was  found  that 
there  was  not  a  sufficient  number  of  boats  to  trans- 
port more  than  half  of  them.  Col.  Van  Rensselaer 
crossed.  Chrystie  remained  behind;  but  the  three 
companies  of  the  13th,  which  were  a  part  of  his 
command,  accompanied  Van  Rensselaer.  Their 
captains  were  Wool,  Malcolm,  and  Armstrong.  On 
Captain  Wool  the  command  of  these  devolved,  and 
never  did  young  officer  and  soldiers  bear  themselves 
more  gallantly  under  the  most  trying  circumstances. 
A  band  of  fewer  than  three  hundred  were  about  to 
attack  a  position  of  extraordinary  strength.  Their 
setting  foot  on  the  Canadian  side  of  the  river  was 
the  signal  for  a  tremendous  fire  from  the  enemy. 
But  onward  and  upward  they  struggled.  In  the 
desperate  encounter  nearly  every  officer  and  many 
of  the  soldiers  in  Captain  Wool's  command  were 
killed  or  wounded.     He  himself  was  shot  through 


228  JOHN  E.  WOOL. 

both  thighs.  But  now  was  not  the  time  to  yield. 
Col.  Van  Rensselar  was  supposed  to  be  mortally 
wounded,  and  was  fast  sinking  from  loss  of  blood. 
Wool  sought  him  and  requested  permission  to  con- 
tinue the  assault.  The  colonel  was  unwilling  to 
entrust  the  fate  of  the  affair  to  a  young  officer  who 
was  for  the  first  time  on  the  field;  but  reluctantly 
consented.  The  excitement  of  the  occasion  and 
the  importance  of  the  object  imparted  strength  to  the 
faint  and  weary  band.  Thev  climbed  the  heights 
and  the  British  were  driven  down  from  the  batte- 
ries. General  Brock,  at  Fort  George,  hearing  the 
noise  of  the  conflict,  set  out  with  a  party  to  assist 
his  countrymen.  On  their  arrival,  some  one  in  the 
wing  commanded  by  Captain  Wool  raised  a  white 
flag,  as  if  demanding  a  cessation  of  hostilities. 
AVool  struck  it  down,  trampled  it  on  the  ground, 
and  rallying  our  forces  by  a  desperate  effort,  once 
more  charged  the  British,  reinforced  though  they 
were,  and  once  more  drove  them  from  the  heights. 
Brock  was  slain — a  panic  seized  the  British — they 
abandoned  their  position  and  fled. 

Thus  opened  the  brilliant  career  of  General  AVool. 
His  daring  and  military  genius  were  at  once 
conspicuous,  and  proved  him  to  be  one  to  whom 
his  country  could  look  Avith  confidence  in  any 
emergency  that  might  call  her  sons  into  the  field. 

For  his  gallant  conduct  at  Queenston  he  was 
promoted  to  the  rank  of  major,  and  assigned  to  the 
2lJth  regiment  of  foot.  The  northern  frontier  was 
the  principal  theatre  of  action  for  this  regiment. 
Major  Wool  uniformly  volunteered  his  services 
wherever  and  whenever  duty  and  danger  led.  But 
the  battle  of  Plattsburgh,  which  included  the  en- 
gagements by  land  and  water,  between  the  Ameri- 
can and  British  forces,  in  September,  1814,  present- 
ed to  him  an  opportunity  for  distinction  such  as 
rarely  occurred  during  the  war.  Fighting  com- 
menced on  the  6th,  and  continued  to  the  11th  of 


JOHN  E.  WOOL.  229 

the  month.  On  the  morning  of  the  6th  was  fought 
the  action  of  Beekmantovvn.  Of  this  action  Wool 
Avas  the  hero.  With  a  force  of  only  250  regular 
troops,  he  kept  a  British  column  of  4000  in  check 
while  our  forces,  under  General  Macomb,  were 
entrenching  themselves  beyond  the  Saranac.  He 
evinced  all  the  coolness  and  intrepidity  which  he 
had  manifested  at  Queenston;  and  his  gallant  re- 
sistance was  of  the  last  importance  to  our  cause. 
Had  the  British  light  brigade  been  able  to  cross  the 
river,  it  is  impossible  to  calculate  what  might  have 
been  the  result,  both  on  Lake  Champlain  and  on 
the  shore.  The  order  given  by  General  Macomb  to 
Major  Wool  was  to  support  the  militia,  and  set  them 
an  example  of  firmness.*  This  order  was  obeyed 
to  the  letter.  For  more  than  five  miles  along  the 
Beekmantovvn  road  the  ground  was  contested  inch 
by  inch,  and  the  militia,  reassured  by  the  example 
of  the  regulars,  supported  the  honor  of  their  country. 
Nearly  three  hundred  of  the  enemy  fell,  killed  or 
wounded,  between  Beekmantown  and  the  Saranac. 
For  his  services  in  this  battle  Major  Wool  was  bre- 
veted lieutenant-colonel. 

On  the  11th  of  September,  1843,  the  anniversary 
of  these  engagements  was  celebrated  at  Plattsburgh. 
The  occasion  was  extraordinary.  The  citizens  of 
Plattsburgh  and  the  military  association  of  Clinton 
county,  had  resolved  to  erect  monuments  in  memo- 
ry not  only  of  the  American,  but  also  of  the  British 
officers  who  fell  in  the  battle.  General  Wool  was 
present  as  a  guest,  by  special  invitation,  and  the 
president  of  the  day,  in  assigning  the  erection  of 
the  several  monuments  to  different  individuals, 
appointed  Wool  to  raise  that  which  is  sacred  to  the 
memory  of  Colonel  Wellington,  of  the  British  Buffs, 
who  fell  at  Culver's  hill,  on  the  Beekmantown 
road,  on  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  September,  1814. 

*  See  General  Macomb's  official  report  of  the  battle,  dated  15th  Sep- 
tember, 1814.  F 


230  JOHN   E.  WOOL. 

Colonel  D.  B.  McNiel,  in  adverting  to  the  propriety 
of  this  appointment,  spoke  in  the  highest  terms  of 
the  bravery  and  generosity  of  General  Wool. 

To  this  speech  General  Wool  made  a  feeling  and 
eloquent  reply. 

At  the  dinner  which  followed  the  solemnities  of 
the  day,  General  Skinner,  after  a  complimentary 
address,  proposed  as  a  sentiment,  "  Gen.  Wool,  the 
hero  of  Beekmantown,  as  well  as  of  Queenston — 

1  His  laurels  are  green,  though  his  locks  are  gray.' " 

This  having  been  responded  to  with  the  greatest 
enthusiasm,  General  Wool  after  a  suitable  reply 
offered  the  following  sentiment — 

"  The  citizens  of  Plattsburgh  and  the  military 
association  of  Clinton  county  —  This  day  attest 
their  magnanimity  and  greatness  of  soul,  by  the 
homage  paid  to  the  illustrious  dead  who  fell  fighting 
the  battles  of  their  country." 

At  the  expiration  of  the  war,  Lieut.  Colonel  Wool 
continued  in  the  army,  and  in  1816  was  commis- 
sioned inspector-general,  with  the  rank  of  colonel. 
Ten  years  after  he  was  made  brigadier-general  by 
brevet.  In  1841  he  was  commissioned  a  brigadier- 
general,  and  appointed  to  the  command  of  the  east- 
ern division  of  the  army.  In  this  station  he  re- 
mained until  the  war  with  Mexico  opened  a  new 
theatre  for  action. 

During  the  long  interval  between  the  two  wars, 
he  was  constantly  engaged  in  some  important  ser- 
vice. As  inspector-general  his  duties  for  about 
twenty-five  years  were  connected  with  every  depart- 
ment of  the  military  establishment  in  the  United 
States  and  her  territories,  extending  from  Eastport, 
in  Maine,  to  the  gulf  of  Mexico,  and  from  the 
Atlantic  to  Council  Bluffs.  When  he  was  appoint- 
ed, there  were  no  white  settlements  north-west  of 
Detroit.  There  were  military  posts  established  at 
Mackinac,   Sault  St.  Marie,    Chicago,    Green  Bay, 


JOHN   E.  WOOL.  231 

Prairie  du  Chien,  St.  Peters,  on  the  upper  Missis- 
sippi, 2200  miles  from  its  mouth,  Council  Bluffs, 
some  1800  miles  up  the  Missouri;  and  posts  on  the 
Arkansas  600  miles  from  its  outlet,  and  on  the  Red 
river  400. 

All  these  were  within  the  limits  of  his  tours  of 
inspection,  which  annually  embraced  an  entire  dis- 
tance of  from  seven  to  ten  thousand  miles.  There 
were  no  means  of  reaching  the  posts  but  by  canoes 
and  on  horseback,  with  provisions  packed  for  a 
journey  of  months  through  the  wilderness.  The 
dangers,  privations  and  hardships,  unavoidable  in 
traversing  lakes,  rivers,  and  forests  by  such  means, 
and  often  with  Indian  guides,  whose  fidelity  might 
admit  of  some  suspicion,  and  always  without  shelter 
or  any  resting  place  but  the  earth  and  a  blanket, 
can  hardly  be  realized  by  those  who  daily  witness 
the  facilities  of  travel  and  its  thousand  attendant 
comforts  and  conveniences,  in  civilized  commu- 
nities. 

During  the  long  peace,  he  rendered  other  services 
which,  we  shall  merely  mention,  were  connected 
with  a  military  visit  to  Europe,  a  command  in  the 
Cherokee  country,  and  the  disturbances  on  our 
northern  frontier  caused  by  the  Canadian  outbreak. 

Since  the  war  was  declared  by  congress  to  exist 
with  Mexico,  in  May,  1846,  General  Wool  has  been 
occupied  —  1st.  In  the  organization  of  the  western 
volunteers.  2d.  In  the  concentration  of  a  division 
at  San  Antonio  de  Bexar.  3d.  In  their  march  to 
Saltillo;  and,  4th.  In  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista. 

Having  fulfilled  his  instructions  in  organizing  the 
volunteers,  and  despatched  the  required  reinforce- 
ments to  General  Taylor,  General  Wool  made  pre- 
parations for  his  own  march  through  the  province 
of  Coahuila.  This  march  terminated  at  Saltillo, 
and  is  one  of  the  most  memorable  of  the  war.  As 
the  general  marched  along,  he  was  peacefully  re- 
ceived by  the  inhabitants.     His  advance  was  more 


232  JOHN  E.  WOOL. 

like  the  passage  of  a  distinguished  ally  than  of  an 
enemy.  In  short,  he  may  be  said  to  have  made  a 
moral  conquest  of  the  whole  province,  by  his  hu- 
mane and  discreet  policy  and  singular  aptitude  for 
swaying  the  minds  of  men.  Adversaries  he  con- 
verted into  friends  by  a  combination  of  firmness, 
kindness,  and  justice;  and  the  reputation  of  his 
column  spread  a  powerfully  favorable  influence  into 
the  adjacent  provinces  of  Durango  and  Zacatecas. 
When  resistance  to  his  advance  was  threatened  he 
was  found  ever  ready  to  face  it;  he  protected  the 
persons  and  property  of  the  inhabitants  from  any 
ill-usage  on  the  part  of  his  own  men;  he  even  res- 
cued some  captives  from  the  Indians  who  infest 
Northern  Mexico;  he  saw  that  everything  got  by 
his  soldiers  from  the  Mexicans  was  fairly  paid  for; 
in  fine,  he  kept  his  division  in  such  excellent  subor- 
dination that  not  a  single  family  was  obliged  to  flee 
at  their  approach,  or  had  occasion  to  dread  the 
outrages  which  so  often  —  we  had  almost  said  in- 
variably—  attend  invasions,  whether  gratuitous  or 
provoked.  It  is  said,  that  in  December,  1847,  when 
suddenly  called  from  Parras  to  relieve  the  threat- 
ened position  of  General  Worth,  his  sick  soldiers 
were  received  into  the  first  families  to  be  attended; 
and  that  the  ladies  of  that  city  who  had  not  forgot- 
ten the  rescue  of  the  captives,  nor  the  sacred  pro- 
tection which  had  been  extended  to  themselves, 
begged  it  as  a  privilege  to  receive  into  their  houses, 
and  to  watch  over,  the  invalids,  whose  lives  might 
have  been  jeoparded  by  the  forced  march  that  was 
necessary  to  reach  Saltillo  before  the  period  desig- 
nated for  Santa  Anna's  arrival! 

General  Wool's  troops  complained  at  first  of  the 
fatigues  attending  their  long  marches,  and  of  the 
strict  discipline  which  he  enforced  —  and  these 
complaints  were  no  doubt  all  the  louder  that  they 
were  volunteers;   but  they  at  length  learned  that 


JOHN  E.  WOOL.  233 

this  very  familiarity  with  hardship,  and  this  strict- 
ness of  discipline,  secured  their  safety  and  success. 

We  now  come  to  the  great  battle  of  Buena  Vista, 
in  which  General  Wool  acted  a  most  conspicuous 
part.  It  was  he  who  chose  our  army's  position, 
arranged  our  forces  for  the  battle,  and  directly  con- 
ducted their  operations  in  the  field.  These  duties 
he  performed  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  his  com- 
manding general,  the  army  and  the  country.  In 
fact,  General  Wool  had  formed  his  opinion  of  the 
course  which  our  army  ought  to  pursue,  independ- 
ently of  any  orders  received  from  his  superior;  and 
General  Taylor,  whose  views  exactly  coincided 
with  his,  felt  such  confidence  in  General  Wool  as 
to  entrust  him  with  what  may  be  called  the  execu- 
tive command  in  the  engagement.  He  was  to  be 
seen  everywhere  through  the  field  animating,  super- 
intending, directing.  In  the  discharge  of  his  duty, 
he  exposed  himself  to  every  danger,  and  won  the 
admiration  of  the  troops  by  his  valor,  while  he  led 
them  to  victory  by  his  example  and  his  generalship. 
General  Taylor,  in  his  despatches,  bears  ample  tes- 
timony to  the  services  of  his  second  in  command. 
There  never  were  on  the  field  of  battle  two  generals 
more  united  in  opinion,  feeling  and  action.  All 
was  harmony  between  them.  And  when,  after  the 
conflict,  they  rushed  into  each  other's  arms,  on  a 
field  where  more  than  three  thousand  men  lay  dead 
or  wounded,  mutual  admiration,  joy  for  the  victory, 
and  sorrow  for  the  slain,  mingled  in  one  overpower- 
ing gush  of  sympathy.  It  was  a  picture  on  which 
the  whole  army,  then  in  array  for  a  third  day's 
combat,  looked  with  joyous  surprise,  and  burst  into 
cheers  —  three  cheers,  thrice  repeated. 

We  can  not  imagine  anything  more  to  the  credit 
of  both  generals  than  the  warm,  unenvying  testi- 
mony which  each  bears  to  the  other's  merits  in 
their  official  accounts  of  the  battle.  Happy  is  the 
country  where  chiefs  are  thus  united,  in  honor  pre- 
30 


234  JOHN  E.  WOOL. 

ferring  one  another!  That  country  has  already 
pronounced  its  highest  encomium  on  the  noble 
conduct  of  the  two  commanders;  nor,  at  the  same 
time,  does  it  forget  that  on  a  field  where  they  were 
opposed  by  five  to  one,  every  officer  and  soldier  who 
did  his  duty  was  a  hero. 

The  journals  of  the  day  have  vied  with  each  other 
in  proclaiming  his  merits;  and  public  bodies  — 
among  whom  are  the  legislature  of  his  native  state, 
and  the  citizens  of  Troy  —  have  passed  resolutions, 
expressive  of  their  admiration  of  his  actions  and 
their  appreciation  of  his  eminent  talents.  There 
may  exist  various  opinions  on  our  war  with  Mexico ; 
but  in  one  respect  it  has  been  useful:  it  has  assured 
the  Americans,  and  shown  to  the  world  that  when 
it  is  necessary  for  us  to  take  the  field,  we  have  both 
men  and  leaders  to  maintain  our  cause. 

On  Saturday,  December  30,  184S,  in  pursuance 
of  a  resolution  of  the  New  York  legislature,  a  very 
valuable  sword,  ornamented  in  the  most  costly 
manner,  was  presented  to  General  Wool.  The 
general  desire  to  see  and  greet  the  second  in  com- 
mand at  Buena  Vista  —  the  military  display,  and 
the  value  and  beauty  of  the  presentation  weapon  — 
all  conspired  to  draw  together  at  the  Capitol  a  very 
large  concourse  of  citizens  and  strangers. 

In  the  executive  chamber  were  Governor  Young, 
Adjutant-General  Stevens,  and  the  residue  of  the 
governor's  military  family,  the  state  officers,  Lieut. 
Gov.  Fish,  governor  elect,  several  officers  of  the 
United  States  army,  judges  of  the  court  of  appeals, 
and  many  ladies. 

General  Wool,  accompanied  by  his  staff,  was 
escorted  from  Troy  by  the  Citizens'  Corps  and  the 
Artillery  company,  and  others  of  that  city,  forming 
a  large  cavalcade.  He  was  received  with  military 
honors  at  the  Patroon's  bridge,  by  Major-General 
Cooper  and  his  staff,  the  Albany  Republican  Artil- 
lery, and  the  Washington  German  Rifle  corps,  who 


JOHN  E.  WOOL.  235 

forming  an  escort,  led  the  way  to  the  Capitol,  to 
the  music  of  several  fine  bands  of  this  city  and  of 
Troy. 

General  Wool  was  warmly  cheered  as  he  alighted 
at  the  Capitol,  and  was  conducted  to  the  executive 
chamber.  The  interchange  of  greetings  there,  was 
also  warm  and  long-continued,  and  many  that  were 
without  pressed  forward  to  take  him  by  the  hand. 
Such  was  the  pressure  in  the  hall  of  the  Capitol, 
where  the  ceremony  was  to  have  taken  place,  that 
a  change  was  a  matter  of  necessity,  and  the  pre- 
sentation took  place  in  the  portico  of  the  Capitol, 
the  large  concourse  occupying  the  steps,  the  broad 
avenue,  and  the  adjoining  enclosures,  nearly  down 
to  the  central  gate. 

Here,  surrounded  by  the  military  and  citizens, 
but  not  without  the  delay  incident  to  so  unexpected 
an  assemblage,  the  ceremony  took  place. 

Our  limits  will  not  permit  us  to  give  the  details. 
It  will  be  sufficient  to  say  that  it  will  be  long  re- 
membered as  among  the  most  interesting  incidents 
connected  with  the  successful  termination  of  the 
war. 


? 


^ 


c 


7 


HENRY  CLAY.  237 


HENRY  CLAY. 

i  OR  nearly  half  a  century,  the  name  of  this 
eminent  statesman  has  been  a  "familiar 
word,"  and  his  history  is  already  insepara- 
bly intertwined  with  that  of  the  country.  A 
'condensed  view  however,  of  his  career,  compiled 
from  authentic  sources,  can  not  but  be  interesting 
to  the  young,  as  when  they  learn  how  he  mounted 
the  ladder  of  distinction  by  his  own  exertions,  de- 
pending solely  upon  his  talent  and  industry,  it  may 
excite  their  emulation. 

Henry  Clay  was  born  in  Hanover  county,  Vir- 
ginia, on  the  12th  of  April,  1777.  His  father,  who 
was  a  clergyman,  died  when  this  son  was  but  a 
child,  leaving  no  means  by  which  he  could  receive 
the  advantage  of  a  classical  education.  When,  but 
a  boy,  Henry  Clay  entered  the  office  of  Mr.  Finley, 
then  clerk  of  the  high  court  of  chancery  at  Rich- 
mond, where  his  embryo  talents  began  to  bud  and 
expand.  Naturally  amiable  in  his  disposition,  he 
gained  the  friendship  of  those  with  whom  he  had 
intercourse,  amongst  whom  were  gentlemen  of  the 
highest  rank  and  most  extensive  influence.  At  the 
age  of  nineteen  he  commenced  the  study  of  law, 
and  so  astonishing  was  his  proficiency,  that  in  one 
year  after,  he  was  admitted  to  practice.  He  soon 
proved  to  his  friends,  and  to  the  courts  in  which  he 
practised,  that  strength  of  intellect  is  not  based  up- 
on a  collegiate  diploma,  and  that  talents  sometimes 
shine  without  receiving  an  artificial  polish  from  a 
classic  master.  American  history  is  rich  with  such 
specimens. 

Soon  after  his  admission,  Mr.  Clay  removed  to 
Lexington,  Ky.,  where  he  pursued  the  study  of  law 
some  time  before  he  commenced  practice.  Natur- 
ally diffident,  he  attached  himself  to  a  debating  so- 


238  HENRY    CLAY. 

ciety,  in  order  to  become  better  prepared  to  enter 
upon  his  duties  as  an  advocate.  It  is  said  his  em- 
barrassment was  so  great  when  he  first  appeared 
before  his  colleagues  in  a  debate,  that  he  addressed 
the  president,  "gentlemen  of  the  jury."  In  a  few  mo- 
ments, however,  he  became  collected,  and  astonish- 
ed his  delighted  audience  with  a  flow  of  eloquence, 
that  at  once  placed  him  on  the  high  road  to  distinc- 
tion. After  remaining  at  Lexington  a  year,  he  took 
his  place  at  the  bar,  and  was  soon  favored  with  a 
lucrative  practice.  He  grappled  fearlessly  with  the 
most  eminent  lawyers,  and  soon  stood  at  the  head 
of  his  profession.  He  gained  the  respect  of  the 
courts  and  the  affections  of  his  clients.  Almost 
cotemporaneously  with  his  maturity,  his  political 
career  commenced.  In  1798,  he  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  discussions  relative  to  the  formation  of 
a  constitution  of  his  adopted  state.  His  main  ob- 
ject was  to  prevent  slavery.  In  this  he  failed,  al- 
though his  speeches  at  public  meetings  on  the  oc- 
casion, did  much  to  raise  him  in  public  estimation, 
as  a  prominent  and  talented  statesman.  His  sin- 
cerity and  honesty  of  intention  were  conceded  by 
all,  and  left  his  opponents  free  from  that  ill  feeling 
that  is  too  often  engendered  in  the  human  breast  in 
debate. 

In  1803,  Mr.  Clay  was  elected  to  the  Kentucky 
legislature,  where,  although  surrounded  by  the 
ablest  men  of  the  state,  veteran  legislators,  he  soon 
gained  an  unrivalled  influence. 

In  1806,  he  was  elected  to  the  Unted  States  senate 
for  one  year  to  fill  the  vacancy  occasioned  by  the 
resignation  of  Mr.  Adair.  During  the  session  he  be- 
came the  advocate  of  the  internal  improvement 
system,  to  which  he  has  adhered  ever  since. 

The  ensuing  year,  he  was  again  elected  to  the 
legislature  of  his  own  state,  and  was  chosen  speak- 
er by  a  very  large  majority. 

In  1809,  the  seat  of  Mr.  Johnston,  in  the  senate 


HENRY    CLAY.  239 

of  the  United  States,  became  vacant,  four  years  of 
his  term  only  having  transpired.  Mr.  Clay  was 
elected  to  serve  in  his  place  the  two  remaining 
years.  An  important  crisis  in  the  history  of  our 
country  was  at  hand.  "War  was  raging  in  Europe, 
and  our  flag  had  been  repeatedly  insulted  by  the 
contending  parties,  ^hder  pretence  of  an  improper 
interference,  a  course  that  had  been  most  scrupu- 
lously guarded  against  by  our  nation.  These  de- 
predations upon  our  rights,  on  the  part  of  England, 
gathered  new  strength  with  each  returning  year. 
Negotiation  lost  its  dignity  and  force,  pacific  propo- 
sitions were  met  with  contempt  by  the  British  court, 
and  our  minister  was  treated  with  contumely  and 
disregard.  It  became  evident,  that  we  should  be 
under  the  necessity  of  measuring  swords  with  the 
mother  country,  before  she  would  respect  our  rights. 
Mr.  Clay  was  among  the  first  to  urge  the  necessity 
of  preparing  for  war.  Although  anxious  to  avoid 
an  open  rupture,  he  was  for  maintaining  the  honor 
and  dignity  of  our  government,  regardless  of  con- 
sequences. At  the  expiration  of  his  term,  in  1811, 
he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  house  of  representa- 
tives in  congress,  of  which  body  he  was  chosen 
speaker  by  a  respectable  majority.  Under  the  high 
excitement  that  then  existed,  our  country  at  the  eve 
of  a  war  with  a  nation  that  had  long  been  mistress 
of  the  seas,  members  differing  widely  as  to  the 
policy  to  be  pursued,  it  required  much  nerve,  pru- 
dence, and  wisdom,  to  discharge,  satisfactorily  and 
impartially,  the  duties  that  devolved  upon  him. 
His  talents,  however,  proved  equal  to  the  task.  He 
was  a  warm  advocate  for  increasing  the  navy,  justly 
considering  it  the  right  arm  of  our  defence. 

When  it  became  evident  that  nothing  short  of  an 
appeal  to  arms  would  save  our  flag  from  continued 
insults,  and  when  war  was  declared,  he  urged  the 
necessity  of  prosecuting  it  with  the  utmost  vigor. 

Mr.  Clay  was  continued  speaker  of  the  house  of 


240  HENRY    CLAY. 

representatives  until  1814,  when  he  was  appointed 
a  commissioner,  in  conjunction  with  Messrs.  Adams 
and  Gallatin,  to  meet  those  of  England,  at  Ghent, 
for  the  purpose  of  negotiating  peace  and  a  treaty  of 
commerce. 

The  mission  of  the  commissioners  was  crowned 
with  success;  hostilities  ceased;  our  rights  were 
recognized,  our  nation  elevated,  our  honor  sustain- 
ed, and  the  valor  of  our  navy  and  army  placed  on 
the  highest  pinnacle  fame  could  rear.  In  the  spring 
following  these  commissioners  met  at  London,  and 
completed  the  commercial  treaty,  which  secured  to 
our  country  many  new  and  important  advantages. 
Mr.  Clay  proved  himself  as  skillful  in  the  rules  and 
intricacies  of  diplomacy,  as  those  of  the  court  of  St. 
James,  who  had  never  properly  appreciated  the 
strength  of  American  statesmen.  In  Messrs.  Clay, 
Adams  and  Gallatin,  England  saw  a  trio  of  talent 
not  surpassed  by  her  noblest  lords. 

On  his  return,  Mr.  Clay  was  again  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  house  of  representatives  in  congress,  and 
remained  in  that  body  until  the  accession  of  John 
Quincy  Adams  to  the  presidential  chair  in  1825,  by 
whom  he  was  appointed  secretary  of  state,  the  du- 
ties of  which  office  he  performed  with  great  ability 
to  the  end  of  the  term,  when  he  was  elected  to  the 
United  States  senate.  During  his  whole  career,  he 
has  ever  been  a  strong  advocate  of  domestic  manu- 
factures, internal  improvements,  and  a  protective 
tariff.  He  preferred  raising  a  revenue  from  duties 
on  imports,  to  liquidate  our  national  debt,  and  meet 
the  current  expenses  of  the  government,  rather  than 
to  have  recourse  to  direct  taxation. 

In  1832,  during  the  discussion  of  the  tariff  bill, 
when  the  doctrine  of  nullification  was  promulgated 
by  several  eminent  statesmen  of  the  south,  and 
when  the  horrors  of  civil  war  were  rolling  into 
thick  clouds,  ready  to  burst  with  fury  upon  us,  Mr. 
Clay,  the  father  of  the  American  system,  appeared 


HENRY    CLAY.  241 

with  the  olive  branch  of  compromise.  After  pour- 
traying  in  glowing  colors,  the  necessity  of  preserv- 
ing unbroken  the  bonds  of  our  Union,  he  presented 
a  bill  which  proposed  a  general  reduction  of  duties 
on  imports,  until  they  should  reach  the  standard 
contended  for  by  the  south.  In  this  plan  he  recog- 
nized the  payment  of  tbe  national  debt,  and  the 
alternate  reduction  of  the  tariff  to  a  revenue  stand- 
ard. The  bill,  like  a  magician's  wand,  the  dark 
cloud  vanished,  and  the  sun  of  reconciliation  rose 
in  all  its  splendor.  The  bill  known  as  the  compro- 
mise act,  passed  both  houses  and  was  signed  by  the 
president,  thus  saving  the  country  from  the  horrors 
of  a  civil  war. 

He  has  uniformly  taken  a  conspicuous  part  in 
every  leading  question  that  has  been  agitated  in 
congress.  His  sympathies  have  always  been  alive 
for  other  nations,  whom  he  saw  struggling  for  lib- 
erty. 

He  was  the  first  who  strongly  advocated  the  re- 
cognition of  the  independence  of  South  America. 
His  success  in  effecting  this,  unquestionably  pre- 
vented other  nations  from  entering  into  an  alliance 
with  Spain  against  the  southern  patriots.  The  ser- 
vices of  Mr.  Clay  were  highly  appreciated  by  them, 
and  formally  recognized  by  their  congress.  His 
name  is  interwoven  in  their  history,  as  their  advo- 
cate and  benefactor. 

Suffering  Greece  also  roused  his  tenderest  sympa- 
thies. He  urged,  with  all  the  powers  of  his  unri- 
valled eloquence,  the  propriety  of  sending  a  commis- 
sioner to  that  classic  land.  He  was  strongly  in 
favor  of  having  the  proceeds  of  the  public  lands 
appropriated  to  the  advancement  of  internal  im- 
provements and  education.  He  favored  the  project 
of  colonizing  the  negroes,  for  whose  emancipation 
he  has  ever  felt  a  lively  interest.  On  the  great 
national  or  Cumberland  road,  a  beautiful  monu- 
ment has  been  raised,  inscribed  Henry  Clay.  His 
31 


242  HENRY    CLAY. 

talents  were  duly  appreciated  by  Presidents  Madi- 
son and  Monroe,  the  former  of  whom  offered  him 
the  mission  to  Russia,  and  subsequently  a  place  in 
his  cabinet,  both  of  which  he  declined.  Mr.  Mon- 
roe offered  him  the  station  of  minister  to  the  court 
of  St.  James,  and  a  place  in  his  cabinet,  which  he 
also  declined. 

Having  again  served  his  country  in  the  United 
States  senate  during  the  readjustment  of  the  tariff, 
in  1S44  Mr.  Clay  was  nominated  as  president  of  the 
United  States.  He  received  the  most  enthusiastic 
support  of  the  whig  party;  but  owing  to  causes 
which  it  is  not  now  necessary  to  dwell  upon,  his 
competitor  James  K.  Polk  was  elected  by  a  com- 
paratively small  majority. 

After  the  election  of  President  Taylor,  to  the 
presidency,  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  his  friends, 
Mr.  Clay  was  once  more  returned  to  the  United 
States  senate  for  the  term  of  six  years,  commencing 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1849. 

For  native  eloquence,  Mr.  Clay  stands  unrivalled 
in  our  country,  if  not  in  the  world.  For  elegance 
and  ease  in  action  when  speaking,  I  have  never 
seen  his  equal.  His  figure  is  tall  and  erect,  his 
voice  clear,  rich,  and  melodious;  filling  a  greater 
space  at  the  same  pitch,  than  any  other  I  over 
heard.  His  countenance  is  animated  and  pleasing, 
and  his  manner  always  happily  adapted  to  the  sub- 
ject. His  arguments  are  usually  well  arrayed,  logi- 
cal, and  to  the  point.  Under  excitement,  he  is 
sometimes  personal,  hurling  at  his  antagonist  the 
keen  lancet  of  satire,  but,  like  the  flint,  he  emits  a 
spark  by  collision,  and  then  is  cool  again.  Ho  ap- 
pears never  to  retain  any  ill  will  against  anyperson. 
In  private  conversation,  he  is  interesting,  agreeable, 
and  always  full  of  life  and  cheerfulness.  In  his 
manners,  he  is  affable,  gentlemanly,  and  highly 
accomplished ;  at  the  same  time  so  plain  and  easy, 
that  a  farmer  or  mechanic,  unaccustomed  to  com- 


HENRY    CLAY.  243 

pany  in  high  life,  feels  himself,  in  a  few  moments, 
perfectly  free  and  relieved  from  all  embarrassment 
in  his  presence.  He  is  frank,  affectionate,  and  warm 
hearted;  a  faithful  friend  and  a  generous  enemy. 

He  possesses  much  of  the  milk  of  human  kind- 
ness; his  heart  is  always  moved  at  the  misfortunes 
of  the  human  family,  individually  and  collectively, 
and  where  he  can  he  relieves  their  wants  with  a 
libera]  hand.  In  his  private  and  domestic  relations, 
he  is  respected  and  esteemed,  and  sheds  the  rays 
of  happiness,  harmony,  and  peace,  through  every 
circle  in  which  he  moves.  When  he  takes  his  final 
exit  to  "that  country  from  whose  bourne  no  travel- 
ler returns,"  taking  him  all  in  all,  our  country  will 
probably  never  look  on  his  like  again.  His  merits 
have  raised  him  in  life,  may  glory  enshrine  him  in 
death. 

On  the  23d  of  February,  1847,  Mr.  Clay  suffered 
a  severe  stroke  in  the  loss  of  his  son  Colonel  Clay, 
at  the  battle  of  Buena  Vista. 

Colonel  Clay  was  shot  through  the  legs  during 
the  last  charge  made  by  the  regiment  to  which  he 
belonged.  He  fell,  though  not  mortally  wounded, 
in  the  bed  of  a  ravine,  and  three  of  his  men  were 
bearing  him  from  the  field  up  the  slope  of  the  hill, 
when,  being  pressed  by  the  enemy,  the  generous 
Clay  begged  them  to  leave  him  and  save  themselves, 
and  at  the  same  time  handing  to  one  of  them  his 
pistols,  said:  "Take  these  and  return  them  to  my 
father.  Tell  him  I  have  no  further  use  for  them." 
The  men  seeing  that  all  must  be  lost  unless  they 
quickened  their  pace,  dropped  their  charge  and  fled. 
Colonel  Clay  was  last  seen  lying  on  his  back,  fight- 
ing with  his  sword  a  squad  of  Mexicans.  His  body 
was  found  pierced  with  ten  bayonet  wounds.  The 
faithful  and  patriotic  volunteer  subsequently  deliv- 
ered into  the  hands  of  the  revered  and  venerable 
father,  these  sacred  tokens  of  the  affection  of  his 
dutiful  son. 


244  THOMAS   H.    BENTON. 

Alluding  to  this  sad  event,  Mr.  Clay,  in  a  letter 
to  a  friend,  said  : 

"  My  life  has  been  full  of  domestic  afflictions,  but 
this  last  is  one  of  the  severest  among  them.  I  de- 
rive some  consolation  from  knowing  that  he  died 
where  he  would  have  chosen,  and  where,  if  I  must 
lose  him,  I  should  have  preferred,  on  the  battle  field, 
in  the  service  of  his  country. 


OLONEL  Benton  is  a  native  of  Orange 
county,  North  Carolina.  He  was  born 
in  1784.  His  ancestors  were  among  the 
leaders  of  the  revolution.  The  family 
of  Hart,  from  which  he  is  descended  on 
the  maternal  side,  was  one  of  the  most  active 
in  the  state  in  furtherance  of  the  settlement  of 
Kentucky.  The  senatorial  life  of  Mr.  Benton 
dates  from  the  year  1820,  when  he  was  elected 
by  the  legislature  of  Missouri,  before  the  formal  ad- 
mission of  the  state  into  the  Union  by  congress. 
He  had  removed  to  Missouri  about  five  years  before, 
where  he  had  immediately  risen  to  distinction  at 
the  bar.  Perseverance,  that  attribute  of  all  truly 
great  and  powerful  minds,  has  through  life  been  a 
remarkable  trait  of  his  character. 

In  person,  Mr.  Benton  is  quite  stout,  his  face  ra- 
ther full,  and  of  an  oval  shape.  His  head  is  large, 
and  tapers  towards  the  apex,  pyramidally.  He  takes, 
seemingly,  little  interest  in  the  course  of  the  debates, 
and  rarely  mingles  in  them.  It  is  certain,  though, 
that  not  a  moment  escapes  his  notice,  and  he  is  pro- 
bably aware  of  the  fact,  that  a  renown  so  well  es- 
tablished as  his,  is  as  likely  to  be  injured  as  advanced 


(2y^iM 


NORMAN  H.  ADAMS.  245 

by  his  rising  too  frequently.  His  speeches,  when 
made,  show  the  marks  of  careful  study,  and  like  the 
earlier  efforts  of  Demosthenes,  smell  of  the  lamp. 
Aside  from  the  matter,  Mr.  Benton  is  not  considered 
an  agreeable  speaker.  He  commonly  speaks  in  so 
low  and  subdued  a  tone,  as  to  be  entirely  inaudible 
in  the  galleries.  This  is  evidently  a  habit,  for 
when  he  chooses  to  expand  it,  his  voice  is  of  great 
volume.  He  is  very  sparing  of  gesture.  He  usually 
rests  the  first  two  fingers  of  either  hand  upon  his 
desk,  and  sways  himself  gently  backwards  and  for- 
wards, as  he  speaks. 

Mr.  Benton  is  now  about  sixty-five  years  of  age, 
and  nearly  thirty  years  of  his  life  has  been  spent  in 
the  senate.  He  is  distinguished  for  the  tenacity 
and  capacity  of  his  memory;  and  in  knowledge  of 
history,  both  ancient  and  modern,  he  may  be  styled 
the  Macauley  of  America.  He  is  fond  of  introducing 
historical  and  metaphorical  illustrations  into  his 
speeches,  and  he  manages  them  generally  with 
much  effect. 


NORMAN  H.  ADAMS. 

JOGRAPHY  has  been  appropriately  defined 
to  be  "history  teaching  by  example."     Its 
most  useful,   and  appropriate  office  is,  to 
present   the  lives  and  characters  of  those 
distinguished  individuals,  who  in  the  judgment 
of  the  wise  and  good,  are  most  worthy  of  imi- 
tation. 

In  the  life  of  Buonaparte ;  his  splendid  achieve- 
ments, and  brilliant  victories;  his  gigantic  plans 
and  undertakings;  and  in  his  whole  unrivalled 
career  through  the  various  stages  of  his  progress 
from  the  office  of  the  obscure  corporal,  to  the  French 


246  NORMAN  H.  ADAMS. 

throne  itself,  we  find  far  more  to  dazzle  and  inflame 
the  youthful  imagination  than  in  the  arduous, 
humble,  self-denying  labors  of  a  Whitfield,  while 
laboring  to  reform,  elevate,  and  convert  the  world. 
And  yet,  were  the  inquiry  addressed  to  every  well- 
informed  American  parent,  whether  he  Avould  not 
prefer  that  his  sons  should  imitate  the  example  of 
the  latter,  it  is  believed  that  in  a  vast  majority  of 
cases,  the  response  would  be  in  the  affirmative. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  perhaps,  that  among  the 
many  sketches  of  great  and  useful  men  whom  cir- 
cumstances have  brought  prominently  forward  to 
the  public  notice,  or  who  have  acquired  fame  by 
the  performance  of  some  rare  and  splendid  acts, 
there  should  be  so  little  known  of  others,  occupying 
a  more  humble  station  in  life,  but  possessing  more 
intrinsic  merit,  who  from  native  modesty,  shrink 
from  the  public  gaze. 

But  nevertheless  were  their  labors  and  their  life 
brought  out  from  the  obscurity  in  which  they  are 
enshrouded,  they  would  be  seen  exerting  an  exten- 
sive though  silent  influence,  like  the  meandering 
rivulet  that  winds  its  noiseless  way  through  the 
lonely  valley,  fertilizing  and  enriching  the  territory 
through  which  it  flows,  while  the  mountain  torrent 
may  attract  far  more  attention,  yet  oftentimes  by 
its  resistless  course,  may  carry  ruin  and  desolation 
in  its  path. 

The  duties  and  occupations  which  necessarily  fill 
up  the  time  of  a  faithful  minister  of  the  church,  are 
in  their  nature  so  uniform  and  simple,  that  his  life 
is  little  likely  to  be  marked  by  occurrences  that 
would  form  materials  for  a  narrative  calculated  to 
gratify  public  curiosity.  And  the  greater  his  devo- 
tion to  the  duties  of  his  calling,  the  less  likely  will 
he  be  to  distinguish  himself  in  the  paths  of  fame. 

Norman  H.  Adams,  the  subject  of  our  present 
sketch,  was  born  on  the  29th  day  of  September, 
1799,  in  the  village  of  Oak  Hill,    Greene  county, 


NORMAN  H.  ADAMS.  247 

New  York.  Oak  Hill  is  an  obscure  but  pleasant 
little  village,  situated  about  twenty  miles  west  from 
the  Hudson  river,  and  at  a  distance  of  some  two 
miles  from  the  base  of  the  Catskill  mountains. 
Were  it  not  foreign  from,  the  design  of  this  sketch, 
it  would  be  an  interesting  theme,  to  exhibit  the 
influence  produced  on  characters,  by  the  natural 
scenery  amid  which  one's  early  years  are  passed. 
On  the  one  hand,  the  majestic  grandeur  of  the 
magnificent  range  of  mountains  that  tower  above 
the  place  of  his  nativity,  may  not  have  been  with- 
out their  influence,  in  creating  the  germ  of  those 
vast  and  sublime  conceptions,  and  the  grand  and 
irresistible  flashes  of  eloquence  occasionally  dis- 
played by  Mr.  Adams  in  the  pulpit.  On  the  other 
hand,  who  can  tell  that  his  unequalled  social  quali- 
ties; the  kindness,  mildness,  affection,  and  love 
which  have  always  marked  his  intercourse  with  his 
fellow  men  may  not  be  traced  to  the  influence  of  the 
beautiful  landscape  along  the  valley,  and  the  gentle 
stream  that  winds  and  turns  along  the  village  ! 

Thomas  Adams,  the  father  of  Norman  H.  Adams, 
was  born  in  Barnstable,  Massachusetts,  and  was 
the  descendant  of  a  family  that  came  from  England 
at  an  early  period  in  the  history  of  the  country,  and 
were  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  that  state.  Anna 
Adams,  the  mother  of  Norman,  was  the  daughter 
of  Aaron  Thorp,  of  Woodbury,  Connecticut.  She 
was  an  amiable  and  exemplary  woman,  of  more 
than  ordinary  strength  of  mind.  Her  early  teaching 
and  example  have  always  exerted  a  controlling 
influence  over  the  subsequent  pursuits  and  conduct 
of  her  son,  and  are  often  acknowledged  by  him  with 
affectionate  and  grateful  emotions.  He  always 
entertained  for  her  the  greatest  veneration.  In 
early  life  he  was  remarkable  for  his  devoted  attach- 
ment to  his  mother,  whose  word  was  always  law 
to  him,  and  also  for  his  refinement,  sensibility,  and 
amiable  temper. 


248  NORMAN  H.  ADAMS. 

He  was  always  passionately  fond  of  flowers, 
pictures  and  music.  It  was  with  the  most  exquisite 
pleasure  that  he  listened  to  the  first  song  of  the 
birds  in  spring,  and  gazed  upon  the  first  opening 
flower.  He  frequently  wandered  a  whole  day  in 
the  woods  in  search  of  flowers,  and  has  been  known 
to  surprise  his  father's  family  by  producing  a  bou- 
quet before  they  were  aware  that  a  single  one  had 
appeared. 

In  those  days,  among  the  humbler  classes,  a  good 
book  was  a  rare  thing,  and  those  that  were  within 
his  reach  were  mostly  works  of  poetry,  which  doubt- 
less had  an  influence  on  his  mind,  and  gave  a  tint 
of  romance  to  his  character  in  after  life. 

He  was  kept  steadily  at  the  district  school,  where 
he  generally  retained  his  station  at  the  head  of  his 
class,  until  he  reached  the  age  of  fourteen  years. 
At  this  age  he  was  supposed  to  have  attained  suffi- 
cient education  to  be  apprenticed  to  some  business, 
and  being  designed  by  his  father  for  the  mercantile, 
he  took  him  into  his  own  store  as  a  clerk. 

In  his  father's  store,  and  in  other  stores  in  the 
vicinity,  he  continued  until  he  was  eighteen  years 
of  age,  when,  never  having  had  a  taste  for  the  busi- 
ness in  which  he  was  engaged,  he  resolved  to  ob- 
tain an  education  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  study 
some  profession.  The  way  appeared  dark  and 
doubtful.  Without  friends  to  assist,  and  with  little 
encouragement  except  from  his  excellent  mother, 
he  entered  somewhat  despondingly  upon  his  arduous 
undertaking. 

He  went  to  Greenville  academy,  and  acquired 
sufficient  knowledge  to  become  an  instructor,  when 
he  engaged  as  a  teacher  in  a  district  school  through 
the  winter,  and  thus  continued  teaching  winters, 
and  in  summer  attending  school,  or  receiving  pri- 
vate instruction,  until  he  had  obtained  a  good  clas- 
sical education. 

About  this  time  the  death  of  a  beloved  sister  near 


NORMAN  H.  ADAMS.  249 

his  own  age,  seemed  to  change  the  whole  complex- 
ion of  his  life.  It  was  the  first  real  sorrow  that  ever 
found  its  way  to  his  young  heart,  and  threw  a  dark 
cloud  over  a  horizon  that  until  then  had  been  clear 
and  bright,  and  cast  a  pall  of  sadness  over  the  sunny 
and  hopeful  future.  At  this  period  his  attention 
was  turned  to  the  ministry,  and  after  mature  de- 
liberation, he  resolved  that  he  would  thenceforth 
devote  his  life  to  the  good  of  his  fellow  creatures. 

He  accordingly  made  known  his  intention  to  the 
Rev.  James  Thompson,  who  officiated  at  Oak  Hill, 
from  whom  he  received  holy  baptism,  and  through 
whose  assistance  he  was  put  in  possession  of  the 
required  testimonials.  He  was  then  admitted  a 
candidate  for  holy  orders  in  the  protestant  episcopal 
church  in  the  diocese  of  New  York,  by  the  Rt.  Rev. 
John  Croes,  bishop  of  New  Jersey,  in  the  absence 
of  Bishop  Hobart  of  New  York,  and  commenced  the 
study  of  theology  under  the  supervision  of  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Fuller  of  Rensselaerville,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Prentiss  of  Catskill,  and  the  Rev.  James  Thompson 
of  Durham. 

The  church  into  whose  bosom  he  had  been  re- 
ceived, being  very  strict  in  her  requirements,  the 
undertaking  upon  which  he  had  entered  appeared 
to  young  Adams  very  difficult.  But  endeavoring 
to  put  his  trust  in  divine  providence,  he  was  sus- 
tained under  all  difficulties,  and  received  great  en- 
couragement and  aid  from  the  Rev.  James  Thomp- 
son and  family. 

Having  passed  the  periods  of  his  different  exami- 
nations with  credit  and  honor,  he  received  the  re- 
quired testimonials,  and  was  ordained  deacon  in 
Christ's  church,  New  York,  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  John 
H.  Hobart,  bishop  of  the  protestant  episcopal  church 
in  the  diocese  of  New  York.  In  the  afternoon  of 
the  same  day,  he  preached  in  the  same  church  his 
first  sermon,  which  has  been  described  to  the  writer 
by  one  who  was  present,  as  a  masterly  effort. 
32 


250  NORMAN  H.  ADAMS. 

At  the  solicitation  of  an  early  and  intimate  friend, 
A.  B.Watson,  then  engaged  in  business  at  Unadilla, 
Mr.  Adams  was  invited  by  the  vestry  of  St.  Mat- 
thew's church  to  make  them  a  visit. 

He  accordingly  left  his  native  village  in  a  few 
days  after  he  received  orders,  preached  at  Unadilla 
the  following  Sunday,  and  the  same  week  received 
a  unanimous  call  from  the  vestry  to  become  the 
minister  of  their  parish,  to  fill  the  vacancy  occa- 
sioned by  the  resignation  of  the  Rev.  Marcus  A. 
Perry.  He  accepted  the  call,  and  was  soon  appoint- 
ed missionary  at  Unadilla,  Bainbridge,  and  parts 
adjacent,  and  was  ordained  priest  in  St.  Matthew's 
church,  Unadilla,  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  John  H.  Hobart, 
on  the  27th  day  of  September,  1828. 

Mr.  Adams  could  not  possibly  have  been  placed 
in  a  situation  more  congenial  to  his  taste  and  feel- 
ings. 

Unadilla  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  villages  in 
the  world,  situated  in  the  bosom  of  a  lovely  and  ver- 
dant valley,  with  the  renowned  Susquehannah  roll- 
ing its  pure  and  sparkling  water  at  its  feet;  dwel- 
lings built  with  taste,  and  grounds  ornamented  with 
trees  and  flowers.  It  is  a  place  peculiarly  calcula- 
ted to  inspire  one  with  a  love  for  the  sublime  and 
beautiful  in  nature,  and  to  open  the  heart  to  the 
pure  and  exalted  feelings  of  devotion  and  praise  to 
the  holy  and  benificent  Being,  from  whose  inex- 
haustible bounty  proceeds  every  blessing  that  glad- 
dens the  heart  of  man.  The  parishioners  of  Mr. 
Adams,  are  refined,  intelligent,  kind  hearted  and 
affectionate;  and  in  return,  it  is  not  strange  that  he 
should  entertain  for  them  the  strongest  affection 
and  regard,  and  devote  himself  to  their  spiritual 
welfare. 

The  writer  has  been  credibly  informed,  that  dur- 
ing the  twenty-three  years  he  has  been  their  pastor, 
Mr.  Adams  has  never  given  to,  or  received  from,  one 
of  his  people  the  first  unkind  word.     This  fact,  con- 


NORMAN  H.  ADAMS.  251 

nected  with  the  long  period  he  has  been  among  them, 
speaks  volumes  in  favor  of  both  minister  and  people. 

When  Mr.  Adams  first  went  to  Unadilla,  the  con- 
gregations at  Unadilla  and  Bainbridge  were  small. 
There  were  but  two  churches  within  thirty  miles 
around,  where  there  are  now  fourteen.  It  can  not 
be  doubted  that  the  labors  of  Mr.  Adams  in  the  ex- 
tensive missionary  field  assigned  to  him,  were  seed 
sown  that  have  sprung  up  in  many  places  and  borne 
fruit.  He  labored  in  the  parish  at  Bainbridge  eight 
or  nine  years,  until  he  deemed  them  sufficiently 
strong  to  sustain  a  clergyman  for  the  whole  time, 
when  he  yielded  to  the  wishes  of  his  parish  at  Una- 
dilla that  he  should  allow  them  his  constant  ser- 
vices. It  was  not,  however,  without  the  deepest 
regret  that  he  left  his  parish  at  Bainbridge,  the 
scene  of  his  early  labors,  endeared  to  him  by  the 
most  tender  recollections,  and  containing  many 
warm  friends  bound  to  him  by  the  strongest  ties  of 
love  and  esteem. 

On  the  28th  of  September,  1831,  he  was  married 
to  Caroline  Frisbee,  daughter  of  the  late  Dr.  Frisbee 
of  Rensselaerville,  Albany  county,  an  eminent  phy- 
sician, and  a  man  of  sterling  integrity  and  piety. 
Mrs.  Adams  is  a  lady  of  education  and  refinement, 
and  by  her  piety,  discretion,  and  dignified  deport- 
ment, has  contributed  essentially  to  her  husband's 
popularity  and  usefulness. 

Between  Mr.  Adams  and  his  congregation  exists 
the  warmest  attachment  and  confidence.  He  has 
had  frequent  opportunities  to  exchange  his  situation 
for  others,  in  which  his  sphere  of  usefulness  might 
have  been  enlarged,  and  more  prominence  given  to 
his  name  and  character.  But  he  was  never  ambi- 
tious of  fame.  Pleasures  resulting  from  celebrity, 
never  held  a  high  place  in  his  estimation ;  and  he 
preferred  from  principle  rather  to  remain  where  he 
was  needed  and  was  useful,  than  to  sever  the  ties 
which  bind  together  the  hearts  of  a  minister  and 


252  NORMAN  H.  ADAMS. 

his  flock;  ties  that  had  been  strengthened  by  a 
long  interchange  of  sympathies  and  kind  feelings. 
In  reference  to  the  place  of  his  present  residence, 
Mr.  Adams  can  well  adopt  the  language  of  good 
Mr.  Hilton,  in  "Now  and  Then."  "  Here  pitched  I 
my  tent  long  ago,  and  here  will  I  remain,  and  take 
my  rest  with  those  I  love,  whom  one  by  one  I  have 
followed  to  the  grave.  Here  sweetly  sleep  they, 
and  by  and  by  I  hope  to  slumber  beside  them  till 
we  rise  together  again  from  the  dust." 

Without  laboring  to  acquire  popularity,  yet  Mr. 
Adams  enjoys  to  a  wonderful  extent,  the  confidence 
and  affections  of  all  classes  of  his  acquaintance. 
Perhaps  no  more  satisfactory  solution  of  this  can  be 
furnished  than  was  given  by  himself. 

On  being  once  asked  how  he  so  managed  as  to 
retain  his  youthful  feelings  so  long,  and  how  it  hap- 
pened he  was  so  great  a  favorite  among  the  young 
people  of  his  parish,  he  replied  he  could  give  no 
answer  unless  it  was  that  he  desired  to  act  up  to 
the  divine  precept,  "weep  with  them  that  weep, 
and  rejoice  with  them  that  rejoice." 

Mr.  Adams  had  resided  at  Unadilla  sixteen  or  seven- 
teen years  before  any  other  than  an  Episcopal  church 
was  erected  there,  which  gave  an  extension  to  his  pa- 
rish labors,  unequalled  perhaps  by  any  country  parish 
in  the  state.  He  has  been  frequently  called  twenty, 
thirty,  and  even  forty  miles  to  attend  funerals;  and 
many  persons  who  in  health,  seemed  to  have  no 
regard  for  the  church,  on  their  death  beds  have  re- 
quested that  he  would  officiate  at  their  burial. 

The  great  mass  of  community  do  not  properly 
appreciate  the  labors  of  a  zealous  and  faithful  cler- 
gyman. An  apostolic  minister  may  be  applauded 
for  his  open  ministrations  upon  the  Lord's  day,  and 
he  may  be  seen  endeavoring  to  fulfil  every  public 
duty,  comforting  the  afflicted,  preparing  the  sick 
and  dying  for  another  world,  instructing  the  lambs 
of  his  flock,  burying  the  dead,  &c. ;  but  he  is  not 


NORMAN  H.  ADAMS.  253 

seen  in  his  private  moments,  the  hours  spent  in  pre- 
paration for  his  Sunday  labors  ;  his  sleepless  nights, 
and  his  anxiety  for  the  temporal  and  spiritual  welfare 
of  those  committed  to  his  charge. 

We  may  say  without  flattery,  that  as  an  orator 
and  a  writer,  Mr.  Adams  stands  in  the  front  ranks 
of  his  profession.  As  a  reader  it  is  sufficient  praise 
for  any  man  to  say.  that  in  his  hands,  ample  justice 
is  always  rendered  to  the  beautiful,  impressive,  and 
inimitable  ritual  of  the  church.  He  has  been  fre- 
quently requested  to  permit  the  publication  of  some 
of  his  efforts,  but  has  generally  declined.  While 
his  aim  seems  to  be  to  produce  practical  sermons, 
yet  his  exuberant  and  fertile  fancy  is  constantly 
exhibited  in  the  rich  and  appropriate  imagery  that 
adorns  his  discourses.  It  has  been  remarked  of  him 
as  of  another  celebrated  divine,  that  his  sermons 
have  a  peculiar  adaptation  to  circumstances.  He 
never  fails  to  enlist  and  retain  the  undivided  inter- 
est and  attention  of  his  hearers.  Were  we  to  ven- 
ture an  opinion,  it  would  be  that  his  great  forte  lies 
in  persuasion,  and  appeals  to  the  more  refined  and 
finer  sensibilities  of  the  heart. 

Mr.  Adams  is  emphatically  a  self  made  man. 
Being  the  eldest  of  six  children  dependant  upon  his 
father  for  support,  he  did  not  wish  to  burden  him 
with  any  expense  for  his  education,  and  received 
from  his  father's  aid  nothing  more  than  an  ordinary 
education;  nor  has  he  ever  received  from  any  indi- 
vidual, as  it  is  confidently  believed,  one  dollar  to 
assist  in  procuring  his  education,  or  in  placing  him 
where  he  now  is. 

What  little  time  he  has  had  for  relaxation  has 
been  principally  spent  in  indulging  his  taste  for 
music  and  painting,  looking  over  his  farm,  planting 
trees,  and  cultivating  flowers.  The  piano  is  his 
favorite  instrument.  He  plays  and  sings  with  con- 
siderable taste. 

He  is  a  sound  churchman  in  principle  and  de- 


254 


SANFORD  HUNT,  SEN. 


voted  to  his  mother  the  church.  While  he  hopes 
to  live  and  die  in  her  arms,  he  endeavors  to  exercise 
that  charity  that  "  believeth  all  things"  well  of  those 
who  differ  from  him  in  opinion.  He  may  most 
appropriately  say, 

"  I  love  the  church — the  holy  church 

That  o'er  our  life  presides, 
The  birth,  the  burial,  and  the  grave, 

And  many  an  hour  besides. 

"  Be  mine  thro'  life  to  live  in  her, 

And  when  the  Lord  shall  call 
To  die  in  her — the  spouse  of  Christ, 

The  mother  of  us  all." 


SANFORD  HUNT,  SEN'R. 

HE  Pilgrim  spirit  has  not  fled.  It  still  sur- 
vives. It  animates  the  children.  It  will 
live  through  generations  yet  to  come.  It 
is  the  genius  which  presides  over  the  des- 
tinies of  the  land.  One  of  the  living  de- 
scendants of  the  fathers  thus  writes :  "  No  other 
form  of  religion  was  known,  in  the  land  of  the  pil- 
grims, until  the  great  principles  of  the  American 
system  were  developed  and  established  here  by  our 
forefathers.  The  truth  is,  they  lived  for  no  ordinary 
purpose.  They  were  the  most  remarkable  men 
which  the  world  ever  produced.  They  lived  for  a 
nobler  end,  for  a  higher  destiny  than  any  that  have 
ever  lived.  These  are  the  men  to  whom  New  Eng- 
land owes  her  religion,  with  all  the  blessings,  social, 
civil  and  literary,  that  follow  in  its  train.  These 
are  the  men  whose  blood  still  flows  in  our  veins 
and  into  whose  inheritance  we  have  entered.  Peace 
to  their  silent  shades!  Fragrant  as  the  breath  of 
morning  be  their  memory !  The  winds  of  two  cen- 
turies have  swept  over  their  graves! 


SANFORD  HUNT,  SEN.  255 

"  The  effacing  hand  of  time  has  well  nigh  worn 
away  the  perishable  monuments  which  may  have 
marked  the  spot  where  sleeps  their  honored  dust. 
But  they  still  live.  They  live  in  the  immortal  prin- 
ciples which  they  taught — in  the  enduring  institu- 
tions which  they  established.  They  live  in  the  re- 
membrance of  a  grateful  posterity;  and  they  will 
live  on  through  all  time,  in  the  gratitude  of  unborn 
generations,  who,  in  long  succession,  shall  rise  up 
and  call  them  blessed." 

Sanford  Hunt,  the  father  of  Washington  Hunt, 
the  present  comptroller  of  the  state  of  New  York,  is 
of  an  old  and  respectable  New  England  stock.  His 
grandfather,  Simeon  Hunt,  was  born  in  Lebanon, 
Connecticut,  about  the  year  1720.  Simeon  had 
several  brothers,  one  of  whom,  Dr.  Ebenezer  Hunt, 
settled  in  Northampton,  Massachusetts.  Another 
brother  settled  near  Sharon,  Connecticut.  The  lat- 
ter married  Hannah  Lyman,  of  Lebanon,  Connecti- 
cut, and  afterward  removed  to  Coventry,  in  the 
same  state,  where  he  died  in  1793,  about  twenty 
years  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife. 

The  father  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir  was  Gad 
Hunt.  He  was  born  in  Lebanon,  Connecticut,  in 
1749.  He  married  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Nathaniel 
Woodward,  of  Coventry,*  Connecticut.  Gad  Hunt 
died  in  1806,  aged  57,  and  his  wife  in  1829,  aged 
83. 

Sanford  Hunt  was  born  at  Coventry,  Connecticut, 
on  the  17th  April,  1777.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he 
became  a  clerk  in  a  store,  in  which  capacity  he 
served  until  he  was  twenty-one. 

In  June,  1798,  he  commenced  business  in  part- 
nership with  an  uncle,  at  Batavia,  near  Windham, 
Green  county,  New  York. 

*  Nathaniel  Woodward  was  a  native  of  Roxbury,  Massachusetts.  His 
wife  was  Elizabeth  Aborn,  born  near  Boston.  They  lived  to  an  ad- 
vanced age.     Nathaniel  died  in  1792. 


256  SANFORD  HUNT,  SEN. 

In  December,  1799,  he  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Fanny  Rose,  of  Coventry,  Connecticut,  the 
daughter  of  Dr.  Samuel  Rose.  She  was  born  Janu- 
ary 4,  1779.  Her  mother,  Elizabeth,  was  sister  of 
the  patriot,  Nathan  Hale,  who  after  the  most  cruel 
treatment  was  executed  as  a  spy  on  Long  Island, 
regretting  that  he  had  but  one  life  to  lose  for  his 
country.  The  father  of  Fanny,  was  a  surgeon  in 
the  army  during  the  revolutionary  war.  He  returned 
home  sick  and  died  a  few  days  afterward  in  the 
winter  of  1780-1. 

Mr.  Hunt  resided  at  Windham  for  about  twenty 
years,  during  the  greater  portion  of  which  period,  his 
business  was  prosperous.  But  sudden  and  unexpect- 
ed reverses,  among  which  was  a  heavy  loss  by  fire, 
considerably  reduced  his  property.  In  1818,  he 
closed  his  business,  and  on  the  following  year,  with  a 
considerable  stock  of  merchandise,  he  removed  with 
his  family  to  his  present  residence  (Hunt's  Hollow), 
where  by  the  most  indomitable  perseverance,  he  has 
succeeded  beyond  his  expectations. 

The  life  of  Sanford  Hunt  furnishes  no  stirring  in- 
cidents, but  there  is  one  thing  which  he  did  which 
reflects  lasting  honor  upon  him;  he  gave  his  child- 
ren a  sound  practical  education!  With  what  truth 
has  it  been  said,  that  "he  who  provides  for  the 
wants  and  comforts  of  himself  and  family,  and  ren- 
ders some  comfort  to  society  at  large  by  his  mental 
and  physical  industry,  performs  one  of  the  high 
duties  of  life;  and  will  ultimately  be  rewarded  in 
the  conscious  rectitude  of  his  life,  by  a  greater 
measure  of  substantial  happiness,  than  he  who 
makes  millions  by  fraud  and  speculation,  to  be 
squandered  in  extravagance,  or  wasted  in  folly,  by 
his  children  or  grandchildren.  The  revolutions 
which  are  constantly  taking  place  in  families,  suffi- 
ciently admonish  us,  that  it  is  not  the  wealth  we 
leave  to  our  children,  but  the  industrious  moral 
habits  in  which  we  educate  them,  that  secures  them 


SANFORD  HUNT,  SEN.  257 

worldly  prosperity,  and  the  treasure  of  an  approving 
conscience. 

Who  can  better  employ  his  time,  his  talents,  and 
attention,  than  fitting  his  sons  to  be  ornaments  of 
society,  and  to  be  a  crown  of  glory  to  his  hoary 
hairs  !  Rarely  can  a  man  serve  his  country  so  well 
in  any  other  way,  as  by  presenting  to  it  a  family  of 
sons  and  daughters,  well  trained  and  disciplined, 
and  amply  qualified  to  act  a  useful  and  honorable 
part  in  the  various  stations  which  they  may  be 
called  to  fill. 

In  1846  Mr.  Hunt  was  called  to  suffer  a  heavy 
affliction,  in  the  loss  of  an  affectionate  wife.  Two 
days  after  an  attack  of  apoplexy,  she  died  suddenly 
on  the  6th  of  February.  She  was  a  woman  greatly 
beloved. 

Having  passed  the  measure  of  days  of  threescore 
years  and  ten,  the  venerable  subject  of  this  sketch 
may  not  be  far  removed  from  the  confines  of  the 
spirit-land.  In  a  few  years  the  fallen  leaves  may 
rustle  above  his  last  resting  place.  May  he  be  ena- 
bled by  a  holy  faith  to  look  forward  to  an  immortal 
spring  time,  to  a  season  of  reviving  hope  and  undy- 
ing beauty  amidst  the  paradise  of  God. 

Mr.  Hunt  has  had  ten  children,  namely,  Samuel 
Rose,  born  Sept.  22,  1800;  John  Hale,  born  March 
17,  1804;  Elizabeth,  born  April  16,  1806;  Mary, 
born  Oct.  6,  1809,  died  Oct.  28,  1835;  Washington, 
born  Aug.  5,  1811;  Horace,  born  Oct.  7,  1813; 
Medad,  born  Aug.  13,  1815,  died  Feb.  24,  1817; 
Fanny  Rose,  born  Sept.  5,  1817;  Sanford,  born  May 
22,  1820,  died  Jan.  4,  1849;  Edward  Bissell,  born 
June  15,  1822.  The  latter  is  in  the  corps  of  United 
States  engineers,  at  West  Point. 


33 


258  WASHINGTON  HUNT. 


WASHINGTON  HUNT. 

rT  has  been  truly  said  that  biography  per- 
forms one  of  its  highest  offices,  when  it  por- 
trays the  controlling  influences  which  gifted 
individuals  have  exerted  on  the  prosperity  of 
their  country,  and  this  office  is  ever  the  most 
grateful  and  acceptable  to  the  friends  of  man- 
kind, when  it  traces  character  through  a  series  of 
early,  consistent,  self-dependent,  developments. 
There  is  a  charm  in  contemplating  the  efforts  of  a 
self-made  man,  rising  from  scenes  of  comparative 
obscurity,  to  those  of  high  distinction  and  eminence, 
continually  sustaining  himself  at  every  new  point, 
and  finally  concentrating  the  approbation  of  his 
countrymen,  which  even  the  most  arbitrary  govern- 
ments have  found  it  impossible  to  resist,  but  which 
come  with  double  attractions  to  those  of  a  free  re- 
presentative character. 

The  river  rolling  onward  its  accumulated  waters 
to  the  ocean,  was  in  its  small  beginning  but  an 
oozing  rill,  trickling  down  some  moss-covered  rock, 
and  winding  like  a  silver  thread  between  the  green 
banks  to  which  it  imparted  verdure.  The  tree  that 
sweeps  the  air  with  its  hundred  branches,  and  mocks 
at  the  howlings  of  the  tempest,  was  in  its  small 
beginning  but  a  little  seed  trodden  under  foot,  un- 
noticed ;  then  a  small  shoot  that  the  leaping  hare 
might  have  forever  crushed. 

Every  thing  around  us  tells  us  not  to  despise 
small  beginnings;  for  they  are  the  lower  rounds  of 
a  ladder  that  reaches  to  great  results,  and  we  must 
step  upon  these  before  we  can  ascend  higher. 

This  sketch  is  written  under  the  impression  that 
the  life  and  character  of  the  individual  named,  af- 
ford a  happy  and  practical  illustration  of  the  senti- 


WASHINGTON  HUNT.  259 

ment.  It  holds  out  to  young  men  of  intellect  and 
decision,  a  bright  example  to  cheer  them  forward 
in  the  path  of  honorable  exertion;  while  they  dis- 
play the  genius  of  American  institutions  in  the  op- 
portunities and  facilities  which  they  present  to  fos- 
ter and  reward  talent,  exertion  and  enterprise. 

Washington  Hunt  is  the  third  son  of  Sanford 
Hunt.  He  was  born  at  Windham,  Greene  county, 
New  York,  on  the  5th  of  August,  1811.  This  is  a 
mountainous  region,  and  furnishes  views  of  sur- 
passing beauty;  and  it  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that 
nearly  all  of  those  who  have  been  prominent  actors 
on  the  stage  of  life,  passed  their  earlier  years  amidst 
mountain  scenery. 

Boys  accustomed  in  early  life  to  climb  over  rocks, 
and  wade  torrents,  are  the  fittest  to  meet  the  frowns 
and  storms  of  the  world  in  manhood.  The  dweller 
on  the  Alpine  heights,  looks  with  contempt  upon 
dangers  which  would  discourage  the  gay  French- 
man. So  the  Scottish  Highlander  has  no  rival  at  a 
charge  in  the  British  army.  And  the  Jews  of  old, 
bred  among  the  hills  of  Palestine,  had  qualities  for 
war  and  enterprise  which  placed  them  among  the 
bravest  of  soldiers,  and  the  most  successful  of  mer- 
chants. 

No  man  loves  his  country  with  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  mountaineer.  Its  very  ruggedness  makes 
him  feel  a  warmer  attachment.  Stern  and  wild,  it 
makes  his  heart  tender.  Those  hardy  native  flow- 
ers of  affection,  continue  to  blossom  when  fairer 
and  more  splendid  plants,  nursed  beneath  warmer 
skies,  wither  beneath  the  breath  of  the  stranger. 

In  1818,  the  subject  of  this  memoir  removed  with 
his  father  to  Hunt's  Hollow,  Livingston  county. 
Having  studied  law,  in  1829,  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  at  Lockport,  N.  Y.,  where  he  still  resides. 
In  that  year  he  was  united  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Mary  H.  Walbridge,  daughter  of  Henry  Walbridge, 
Esq. 


260  WASHINGTON  HUNT. 

Having  from  an  early  period  taken  an  active  in- 
terest in  political  affairs,  in  1836  he  was  nominated 
for  congress,  and  lacked  but  a  few  votes  of  being 
elected.  The  same  year  he  was  appointed  first 
judge  of  Niagara  county,  the  duties  of  which  im- 
portant station  he  discharged  with  a  fidelity  and 
ability  which  elicited  general  approbation.  At  the 
termination  of  the  constitutional  term  of  five  years, 
having  declined  the  offer  of  a  reappointment,  he 
retired  in  1841. 

On  this  occasion  of  a  meeting  of  the  bar  of  Nia- 
gara county  was  called,  and  the  following  resolu- 
tion unanimously  adopted. 

Resolved,  That  the  Hon.  Washington  Hunt,  in 
retiring  from  the  office  of  first  judge  of  the  county 
of  Niagara,  will  carry  with  him  the  kind  and  grateful 
recollections  of  the  members  of  the  bar  of  this 
county,  not  only  as  a  judge  possessing  a  clear  and 
comprehensive  mind,  combined  with  a  firm,  inde- 
pendent and  dignified  deportment,  but  as  a  man 
and  a  private  citizen. 

In  1842,  at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  his  friends, 
Mr.  Hunt  again  became  a  candidate  for  congress. 
Having  received  an  unanimous  nomination  by  the 
whig  district  convention,  he  was  elected  by  a  fair 
majority.  And  it  is  a  fact  worthy  of  record,  that 
owing  to  his  personal  popularity,  many  of  the  oppo- 
site party  gave  him  their  votes.  From  that  time  to 
the  present,  without  any  solicitation  on  his  part,  he 
has,  by  large  majorities,  been  regularly  reelected 
to  the  same  office. 

In  January,  1849,  Mr.  Fillmore,  the  present  vice- 
president  of  the  United  States,  having  notified  the 
legislature  of  his  intended  resignation  of  ihe  office 
of  comptroller  on  the  20  of  February  ensuing,  it  be- 
came necessary  to  fix  upon  a  successor.  The  lead- 
ing whig  papers  in  all  parts  of  the  state  forthwith 
urged  the  choice  of  Mr.  Hunt.  The  following  ex- 
tract from  the  Herkimer  Journal  is  a  specimen  of 


WASHINGTON  HUNT.  261 

the   numerous   articles    which   appeared   in   com- 
mendation of  him. 

For  the  purpose  of  giving  voice  to  the  nearly  unanimous  wish  of  the 
whigs  of  this  section  of  the  state,  we  present  the  name  of  Washington 
Hunt,  as  a  candidate  for  the  office  of  comptroller  of  the  state  of  New 
York.  The  qualifications  of  Mr.  Hunt  are  ample.  He  is  a  man  of  tried 
integrity,  of  great  financial  experience,  of  extensive  and  varied  acquire- 
ments, of  graceful  address  and  gentlemanly  bearing.  During  the  many 
years  he  has  been  engaged  in  public  affairs,  he  has  evinced  not  only 
great  powers  of  mind,  but  many  excellencies  of  heart;  and  in  every  po- 
sition in  which  he  has  been  placed  by  the  partiality  of  an  enlightened 
constituency,  he  has  discharged  the  duties  imposed  upon  him  to  the  en- 
tire satisfaction  of  the  public  and  with  great  honor  to  himself. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  whig  members  of  the  legisla- 
ture in  caucus,  for  the  purpose  of  agreeing  upon  a 
candidate  for  comptroller,  the  nomination  of  Mr. 
Hunt  was  moved  by  Mr.  Fuller  of  the  senate,  who 
paid  a  just  tribute  to  his  qualifications. 

Senator  Cole  followed,  and  in  the  course  of  some 
eloquent  remarks,  said: 

"After  the  eloquent  euloginm  that  has  just  been 
pronounced  on  Mr.  Hunt,  it  looks  like  presump- 
tion in  one  as  humble  as  myself  to  rise  to  ad- 
dress you.  But  1  can  speak  of  Mr.  Hunt  from  a 
long  and  intimate  acquaintance.  He  is  my  repre- 
sentative in  congress.  I  have  the  honor  of  being 
his  in  this  senate.  This  is  my  apology  for  trespass- 
ing upon  your  patience.  He  is  a  gentleman  whose 
marked,  yea,  preeminent,  ability,  tried  integrity,  un- 
wearied industry,  patient  research,  sound  and  dis- 
criminating judgment,  quickness  of  apprehension 
and  clearness  of  conception,  and  great  financial 
experience — whose  endearing  amiability  of  charac- 
ter, kindness  of  heart,  and  gentle  courtesy  and 
cordial  familiarity  of  manner,  declare  him  not  only 
able  to  discharge  the  duties  of  the  most  important 
office  in  the  state,  (that  of  comptroller,)  but  also  to 
be  possessed  of  qualifications  for  it,  as  rare  as  they 
are  desirable. 

Sir,  six  years  since  he  entered  congress,  unknown 
to  fame.  In  that  brief  period,  (four  of  which  was 
passed  in  a  hopeless  minority)  he  has,  by  his  untiring 


262  WASHINGTON  HUNT. 

industry  and  commanding  talents,  raised  himself  to 
the  proud  eminence  of  being  the  first  in  ability  and 
influence  of  the  distinguished  delegation  from  this, 
the  Empire  State,  and  to  an  equality  with  any  mem- 
ber of  the  house  of  representatives  in  congress.  A 
little  over  one  year  ago  he  was  made  chairman  of 
the  important  standing  committee  on  commerce, 
and  in  the  short  time  which  has  transpired,  such  is 
the  distinguished  ability  with  which  he  has  dis- 
charged the  high  duties  of  his  committee,  that  he  has 
acquired  a  most  enviable  reputation  as  a  statesman. 
His  elaborate,  well-digested  and  able  reports  on 
commerce  and  navigation,  and  on  the  improvement 
of  rivers  and  harbors,  prove  him  to  be  patient  in 
research,  sound  in  judgment,  accurate  in  deduc- 
tion— a  sound  constitutional  lawyer,  and  a  wise 
statesman.  He  is  still  comparatively  a  young  man ; 
he  is  yet  on  the  sunny  side  of  the  meridian  of  life. 
Bright  as  has  been  his  course  so  far,  a  more  brilliant 
one  awaits  him ;  higher  honors,  a  more  wide-spread 
and  enduring  reputation.  In  the  western  portion 
of  this  state,  where  he  is  best  known,  there  are  but 
two  of  our  many  eminent  statesmen  who  surpass 
him  in  public  estimation.  Need  I  say  they  are 
Millard  Fillmore  and  Wm.  H.  Seward  ?  There  is 
that  in  the  histories  of  these  three  distinguished 
gentlemen,  which  has  caused  me,  who  have  had 
the  happiness  to  know  them  from  their  youth  or 
early  manhood,  to  mark  with  deep  and  abiding  in- 
terest their  proud  progress  up  the  hill  of  fame. 

Mr.  Hunt  is  a  self  made  man.  In  early  life,  feel- 
ing the  working  of  a  mighty  spirit  within  him,  he 
struggled  hard  with  the  ills  of  fortune.  Now,  be- 
fore he  has  arrived  at  the  meridian  of  life,  he  has 
not  only  acquired  without  one  act  of  wrong,  with- 
out one  tear,  or  one  cry  of  distress  from  the  oppress- 
ed, without  one  blur  on  his  fair  fame,  an  ample  for- 
tune, but  also  a  reputation  as  a  statesman,  of  which 
any  one  might  be  proud." 


WASHINGTON    HUNT.  263 

After  further  remarks,  a  resolution  declaring  Mr. 
Hunt  unanimously  nominated,  was  adopted  with 
enthusiastic  applause  from  the  caucus  and  galleries. 

On  the  15th  of  February,  on  the  meeting  of  the 
two  branches  of  the  legislature  in  joint  convention, 
Mr.  Hunt  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  comptroller 
by  a  vote  of  eighty-nine  to  seven. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  on  this  occasion,  many 
of  the  papers  opposed  to  Mr.  Hunt  in  politics,  among 
which  was  the  Albany  Argus,  congratulated  the 
whigs  upon  their  choice. 

We  can  not  close  this  brief  sketch  without  call- 
ing attention  to  the  paramount  importance  of  one 
qualification  which  ought  to  shine  conspicuously  in 
every  officer  of  the  government,  and  that  is  moral 
character.  There  is  nothing  which  adds  so  much 
to  the  beauty  and  power  of  man,  as  a  good  moral 
character.  It  is  his  wealth — his  influence — his  life. 
It  dignifies  him  in  every  station — exalts  him  in 
every  condition,  and  glorifies  him  at  every  period 
of  life.  Such  a  character  is  more  to  be  desired  than 
everything  else  on  earth.  It  makes  a  man  free  and 
independent.  No  servile  tool — no  crouching  syco- 
phant— no  treacherous  honor-seeker  ever  bore  such 
a  character.  The  pure  joys  of  truth  and  righteous- 
ness never  spring  in  such  a  person.  If  young  men 
but  knew  how  much  a  good  character  would  dignify 
and  exalt  them — how  glorious  it  would  make  their 
prospects,  even  in  this  life;  never  should  we  find 
them  yielding  to  the  groveling  and  base-born  pur- 
poses of  human  nature. 

Without  this,  the  subject  of  our  sketch  could 
never  have  attained  the  enviable  rank  he  now 
occupies.  He  is  a  liberal  patron  of  literature  and 
the  arts,  and  his  sympathies  are  ever  on  the  side  of 
the  weak  and  the  distressed. 

How  softly  on  the  bruised  heart 

A  word  of  kindness  falls, 
And  to  the  dry  and  parched  soul 

The  moist'ning  tear-drop  calls; 


264  SANFORD  HUNT,  JR. 

O,  if  they  knew,  who  walk  the  Earth 

'Mid  sorrow,  grief  and  pain, 
The  power  a  word  of  kindness  hath, 

'Twere  paradise  again. 

As  stars  upon  the  tranquil  sea 

In  mimic  glory  shine, 
So  words  of  kindness  in  the  heart 

Reflect  their  source  divine ; 
O,  then,  be  kind,  who'er  thou  art 

That  breathest  mortal  breath, 
And  it  shall  brighten  all  thy  life, 

And  sweeten  even  death. 

For  a  detailed  history  of  the  congressional  career  of  Mr.  Hunt,  the 
reader  is  referred  to  that  invaluable  work,  Wheeler's  History  of  Congress. 


SANFORD  HUNT,  JR. 

There  is  another  gathering, 

But  one  is  wanting  there; 
The  youth  who  sat  beside  his  sire 

Comes  not  to  fill  his  chair. 
The  grave-yard  bears  another  stone — 

The  miss'd  one  sleeps  beneath — 
The  cheerful  smile  doth  yet  pass  round, 

But  thou  art  felt,  oh  death ! 


<&jftfef LEAR  is  the  bubbling  spring,  but  i 
<^VtkI  gently,  and  it  is  the  little  rivulet  whi< 


it  flows 
ich  runs 
along,  day  and  night,  by  the  farm  house, 
that  is  useful,  rather  than  the  swollen  flood, 
or  the  warring  cataract.  Niagara  excites  our 
wonder,  and  we  stand  amazed  at  the  power 
and  greatness  of  God  there,  as  he  "pours  it  from  his 
hollow  hand."  But  one  Niagara  is  enough  for  the 
continent,  or  the  world,  while  the  same  world  re- 
quires thousands  and  tens  of  thousands  of  silver 
fountains  and  gentle  flowing  rivulets,  that  water 
every  farm  and  meadow,  and  every  garden,  and 
that  shall  flow  on  every  day,  and  every  night,  with 
their  gentle,  quiet  beauty.  So  with  the  acts  of  our 
lives ;  it  is  not  by  great  deeds  only,  but  by  the  daily 
and  quiet  virtues  of  life,  that  good  is  to  be  done. 


SANFORD  HUNT,  JR.  265 

The  name  of  Sanford  Hunt,  Jr.,  has  not,  we 
believe,  ever  been  before  the  world  as  a  political 
character;  but  as  the  most  fragrant  flowers  are  fre- 
quently found  in  the  shady  glen,  so  there  are  some 
men  whose  lives  glide  silently  away,  unnoticed  but 
by  a  quiet  circle  in  which  their  excellence  of  cha- 
racter is  truly  appreciated. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  the  sixth  son  of 
Sanford  Hunt,  Sen.,  and  was  born  at  Portage,  Liv- 
ingston county,  New  York,  on  the  22d  of  May,  1820. 
Some  years  ago,  he  removed  to  Mount  Morris,  where 
he  was  engaged  in  an  extensive  mercantile  concern. 

On  the  1st  of  January,  1847,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  with  Miss  Marilla  Currier. 

On  the  4th  of  January,  1849,  while  on  a  visit  to 
his  sister  at  Roxbury,  Massachusetts,  he  departed 
this  life  for  that  "  better  land "  where  there  is  no 
more  death,  and 

Where  every  severed  wreath  is  bound; 

And  none  have  heard  the  knell 
That  smites  the  soul  in  that  wild  sound — 

Farewell, — beloved,  Farewell. 

"In  the  death  of  Mr.  Hunt,"  says  the  Mt.  Morris 
Union,  "  our  village  has  sustained  a  serious  loss — 
he  possessed  an  active  and  persevering  spirit,  and 
in  all  his  business  transactions,  the  most  particular 
and  scrupulous  correctness  was  observable — gifted 
with  a  more  than  usual  degree  of  business  talent, 
every  thing  he  undertook  was  carried  forward  to 
a  successful  completion;  and  although  a  resident 
of  our  village  but  a  few  years,  he  had  by  the  purity 
of  his  life,  the  amenity  of  his  disposition  and  man- 
ners, and  the  upright,  faithful,  and  intelligent  dis- 
charge of  all  the  duties  of  a  good  citizen,  acquired 
in  an  eminent  degree  the  esteem  and  confidence  of 
the  community." 


34 


266  CHARLES  S.  STEWART. 


CHARLES  SEAFORTH  STEWART. 

HARLES  S.  Stewart  is  a  native  of  New 
Jersey.      His    father,    Samuel    Robert 
Stewart,  was  a  counsellor  at  law  of  the 
bar  of  that  state,  distinguished  for  pro- 
fessional ability  and  acumen,  for  ready 
wit,  and  success  as  an  advocate.     The  grand- 
father of  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  was  Colonel 
Charles  Stewart,  a  gallant  Jerseyman,  whose 
distinguished  services  are  honorably  commem- 
orated in  the  annals  of  that  state. 

European  ancestry  is  of  little  importance  to  those 
who  inherit  the  birthright  of  American  citizenship; 
but  the  subjoined  extract  from  an  article  in  a  public 
journal,  referring  to  a  relative  of  Col.  Stewart,  and 
rehearsing  the  immediate  ancestors  of  both,  shows 
that  the  family  are  descended  from  one  of  the  oldest 
branches  of  the  Scottish  house  of  Stewart* 

The  Rev.  C.  S.  Stewart  was  educated  at  Nassau 
hall,  Princeton,  and  we  believe  that  the  first  appear- 
ance of  his  name  in  print,  was  at  its  commencement 
as  a  graduate  in  connexion  with  the  higher  honors 
of  his  class.  For  a  time  he  directed  his  attention 
to  the  bar  as  a  profession,  and  completed  a  course 
of  study  at  the  law  school  of  Litchfield,  Connecticut, 
so  celebrated  under  the  supervision  of  its  founders, 
Judges  Reeves  and  Gould.  He  subsequently  en- 
tered the  theological  seminary  at  Princeton,  and  was 
there  ordained  for  the  ministry,  as  an  evangelist 
and  missionary  to  the  Sandwich  Islands  in  1822. 
The  missionary  enterprise  was  at   that   time,    a 

*His  father  was  Robert  Stewart,  of  the  demesne  of  Gortlee,  Donegal 
county,  Ireland,  and  his  grandfather  Charles  Stewart,  a  Scotchman,  of 
the  family  of  Garlies,  an  officer  of  dragoons  in  the  army  of  William  III. 
lie  belonged  to  the  regiment  of  Col.  Sir  Christopher  Wray,  Bart.,  and 
for  gallantry  at  the  battle  of  the  Boyne,  received  an  estate  in  the  north 
of  Ireland  still  in  the  possession  of  a  descendant. — New  York  Express. 


CHARLES  S.  STEWART.  267 

comparatively  new  thing-;  and  but  little  general 
interest  in  the  public  mind  had  as  yet  been  excited 
by  it,  especially  among-  the  more  cultivated,  wealthy 
and  more  polished  circles  of  society.  It  was  in 
those  circles  that  his  associations  had  chiefly  been; 
and  his  determination  to  become  a  missionary,  ex- 
cited a  lively  and  wide-spread  interest  in  the  cause, 
and  accounted  for  the  character  of  some  of  the 
notices  in  the  public  prints  of  the  embarkation  of 
the  company  of  missionaries  to  which  Mr.  Stewart 
and  his  lady  were  attached. 

The  following  extract  from  an  introduction  by 
the  English  editor,  accompanying  the  first  London 
edition  of  Mr.  Stewart's  Residence  at  the  Sandwich 
Islands1  will  show  the  estimation  in  which  he  was 
held. 

"  The  writer  of  the  following  book,  is  one,  whom  the  most  disinterested 
benevolence,  led  to  the  Sandwich  Islands,  for  the  purpose  of  attempting 
to  communicate  to  the  unenlightened  minds  of  the  inhabitants,  the  prin- 
ciples of  human  knowledge  and  inspired  truth.  Though  connected  with 
families  of  the  first  respectability  in  America,  and  favored  with  the  fairest 
prospects  of  realizing  all  he  could  desire  in  his  profession  at  home,  he 
relinquished  them,  and 

Denied  to  self,  to  earthly  fame 

Denied,  and  earthly  wealth — he  kindred  left 

And  home,  and  ease,  and  all  the  cultivated  joys, 

Convenient  and  delicate  delights, 

Of  ripe  society." 

A  journal  of  the  day,  in  describing  the  embarka- 
tion of  the  missionaries  at  New  Haven,  on  the  19th 
of  November,  1822,  thus  writes: 

"  The  scene  was  one  of  the  most  solemn  and  interesting  we  have  ever 
witnessed.  It  was  a  most  triumphant  display  of  the  power  and  worth  of 
Christianity;  and  the  cause  of  missions  will  be  immeasurably  strength- 
ened by  this  instance  of  piety  and  almost  unexampled  devotion.  The 
breathless  silence  that  prevailed  during  the  religious  exercises,  and  the 
murmurs  of  sympathy  that  pervaded  the  assembly,  while  the  missionaries 
were  taking  leave  of  their  friends,  made  an  impression  that  can  not  be 
effaced.  We  were  irresistibly  reminded  by  it  of  the  following  passage 
in  the  Acts:  "And  when  he  had  thus  spoken,  he  kneeled  down  and 
prayed  with  them  all.  And  they  all  wept  sore,  and  fell  on  Paul's  neck, 
and  kissed  him,  sorrowing  most  of  all  for  the  words  which  he  spoke, 
that  they  should  see  his  face  no  more.  And  they  accompanied  him  to 
the  ship." 

"  With  this  mission  family,  individuals  of  refined  taste  and  finished 
education,  of  elegant  and  polished  manners,  and  great  personal  worth, 


268  CHARLES  S.  STEWART. 

have  bidden  adieu  for  ever  to  all  that  is  dear  to  them  on  earth,  and  gone 
without  the  expectation  of  return,  to  the  benighted  islands  of  the  Pacific. 
The  prayers  and  pious  aspirations  of  their  friends,  and  of  the  Christian 
world,  follow  them,  and  we  trust  ever  will  follow  and  support  them. 

"The  sacrifices  which  those  make  who  leave  their  native  shores  for 
missionary  purposes,  are  of  no  common  character.  Christians  do  not 
sufficiently  realize  this.  In  the  description  which  voyagers  give  of  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  we  are  told  of  the  salubrity  of  the  climate,  the  excel- 
lency of  the  fruits,  and  the  simplicity  of  the  inhabitants.  But  could  we 
view  those  places,  and  view  them,  ignorant,  dehased  and  guilty,  as  they 
are ;  could  we  see  the  great  obstacles  to  be  surmounted  before  they  can 
be  raised  to  the  comforts  of  civilization  and  the  blessings  of  Christianity, 
we  should  be  able  to  make  a  better  estimate  of  the  sacrifices  and  trials 
of  the  missionary." 

The  missionary  life  of  Mr.  Stewart,  and  the  causes 
constraining  him  to  return  to  the  United  States,  are 
fully  known  through  his  published  account  of  his 
Residence  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  which  has  gone 
through  many  editions  in  this  country  and  abroad. 

For  more  than  two  years  after  his  return  to  the 
United  States,  he  traveled  and  preached  extensively 
over  the  northern  and  middle  states,  in  advocacy  of 
the  cause  of  missions ;  not  without  reason,  then  and 
still  do  believe,  with  very  great  acceptance  to  the 
public,  and  happy  and  permanent  results,  in  a  fresh 
impulse  to  the  cause. 

The  then  secretary  of  the  navy,  the  Hon.  Samuel 
L.  Southard,  was  one  of  the  earliest  friends  of  Mr. 
Stewart ;  and  knowing  the  special  and  deep  interest 
which  his  voyages  and  residence  in  the  Sandwich 
Islands  had  led  him  to  take  in  the  moral  condition 
and  improvement  of  seamen,  urged  upon  him  an 
appointment  as  chaplain  in  the  navy,  with  an  ar- 
rangement for  making  a  visit  to  his  old  missionary 
station  on  his  first  cruise.  The  result  was  a  voyage 
of  the  world,  familiar  to  the  public  both  of  America 
and  Europe  in  the  volumes  of  his  Visit  to  the  South 
Seas  in  1829-30.  These  volumss  have  also  gone 
throuCTh  many  editions  both  at  home  and  abroad. 

Among  the  numerous  highly  flattering  notices  of 
these  volumes  in  all  the  leading  journals  and  re- 
views, is  the  following  from  the  New  York  Com- 
mercial Advertiser  of  June,  1826,  accompanying  the 


CHARLES   S.    STEWART.  269 

first  descriptive  piece  which  appeared  in  print  while 
he  was  still  a  missionary  at  the  Sandwich  Islands: 

"  Among  the  little  band  of  the  ministers  of  God  who  with  the  zeal, 
courage,  and  devotion  of  the  primitive  apostles  and  martyrs,  have  gone 
to  proclaim  to  the  heathen  the  glad  tidings  of  great  joy,  is  the  Rev. 
Charles  Samuel  Stewart.  Inheriting  an  elegant  competency  of  this 
world's  goods,  no  pains  were  spared  in  his  education,  and  he  had  nearly 
completed  his  studies  for  the  legal  profession,  in  the  celebrated  law 
school  at  Litchfield,  when  he  entered  upon  the  study  of  theology  with 
the  firm,  and,  as  the  event  proved,  unalterable,  determination  of  devoting 
himself  to  the  missionary  cause  in  the  Sandwich  Islands.  He  married 
an  interesting  and  accomplished  lady  of  Otsego  count}',  equally  devoted, 
and  bade  adieu  to  his  native  land  in  1822.  From  the  time  of  his  de- 
barkation until  the  present  his  patient  and  unwearied  exertions  in  the 
great  cause,  have  been  rend  :red  familiar  to  the  public  through  the  usual 
channels  of  missionary  intelligence.  We  have  the  happiness  to  name 
him  as  our  friend,  and  though  his  letters  to  us  have  indeed  been,  "  like 
angel's  visits,  few  and  far  between,"  on  Saturday  we  had  the  pleasure  of 
receiving  a  communication  from  him,  of  so  interesting  a  character  that 
we  publish  it  entire,  though  it  was  written  for  our  private  information 
and  amusement  merely,  without  the  most  distant  thought  that  it  would 
be  put  in  print.  During  the  late  visit  of  H.  B.  M.  frigate  Blonde,  com- 
manded by  the  present  Lord  Byron  to  that  group  of  Islands,  our  friend 
had  the  pleasure  of  making  a  voyage  in  her  to  the  eastern  side  of 
Hawaii  (Owyhee)  and  of  spending  a  month  there  at  a  beautiful  harbor 
never  before  surveyed,  and  now  called  Byron's  Bay,  in  honor  of  the  com- 
mander of  the  Blonde.  One  week  of  this  time  was  principally  occupied 
in  an  excursion  to  the  great  volcanoes  of  Kiraued,  situated  on  the  south- 
eastern side  of  the  island,  and  in  comparison  of  which,  ^Etna  and  Ve- 
suvius and  Stromboli,  and  every  other  volcano  of  which  we  have  an 
account,  dwindles  into  insignificance.  The  letter  before  us  is  a  pictur- 
esque account  of  the  writer's  visit  to,  and  a  powerful  description  of  this 
extraordinary  phenomenon.  Some  account  of  this  wonderful  sea  of 
troubled  fire  is  contained  in  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ellis'  Tour  Around  Hawaii, 
with  a  deputation  of  the  Mission  in  1823.  Though  this  was  considered 
an  intersting,  nay,  thrilling  description,  it  no  more  compares  with  that 
furnished  by  Mr.  Stewart,  either  for  strength,  beauty  or  the  art  of  paint- 
ing the  terribly  sublime,  than  the  Vesuvius  does  to  Kiraued.  It  is  full  of 
interest.  The  landscape  is  sketched  with  all  the  freshness  and  talent  of 
a  Scot ;  and  the  fiery  deep,  the  rolling  of  the  flaming  billows,  the  heavy 
columns  of  ascending  smoke,  the  bursting  of  the  numerous  conical 
islands  emitting  pyramids  of  brilliant  flame,  and  vomiting  from  their 
ignited  mouths  streams  of  florid  lava,  which  rolled  in  blazing  torrents 
down  their  black  indented  sides  into  the  boiling  mass  below,  are  painted 
with  a  bold  and  truly  masterly  hand." 

As  a  specimen  of  the  general  nature  of  the  criti- 
cisms of  the  reviews  and  journals  on  his  first  publi- 
cation of  a  volume,  we  copy  the  following: 

"It  is  with  no  ordinary  pleasure  that  we  announce  the  fifth  edition  of 
a  Residence  at  the  Sandwich  Islands,  by  the  Rev.  C.  S.  Stewart,  with  an 
introduction  and  notes  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ellis,  from  the  London  edition. 
Its  appearance,  moreover,  at  the  present  time  is  most  opportune,  from 


270  CHARLES   S.    STEWART. 

the  reawakened  interest  of  the  Christian  public  in  the  affairs  of  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  where  a  work  of  religions  renovation  and  conversion 
has  been  in  progress  for  a  year  past,  (1838-9)  unequalled  for  its  extent 
and  power  since  the  days  of  the  apostles,  unless  we  except  the  revivals 
in  England  and  America  a  century  ago  under  the  preaching  of  Whit- 
field, l   tit     a 

Our  country  contains  few  descriptive  writers  who  equal  31  r.  fctewart. 
His  landscapes  are  sketched  with  all  the  freshness  and  beauty  of  nature, 
and  spread  before  the  mind  of  the  reader  with  the  effect  of  painting. 
Equally  felicitous,  also,  are  his  delineations  of  men  and  manners,  of 
which  he  is  a  close  observer.  Moreover,  writing  with  the  heart  of  a 
Christian  missionary,  his  works  have  been  universally  popular.  The 
present  volume  we  are  happy  to  learn,  is  to  be  followed  by  an  improved 
edition  of  his  kindred  work,  A  Visit  to  the  South  Seas." 

In  another  notice  by  a  leading  journal,  the  re- 
viewer thus  hints  in  reference  to  the  South  seas: 

"  Few  of  the  religious  characters  of  the  day  hold  a  more  conspicuous 
place  in  the  eye  of  the  Christian  public,  than  the  author  of  this  very  in- 
teresting work.  Coming  forward  at  comparatively  an  early  period,  in 
the  history  of  missions,  to  the  surprise  of  a  large  circle  of  fond  and 
ambitious  friends,  he  threw  the  whole  weight  of  a  mind,  gifted,  educated 
and  refined  in  no  ordinary  degree— talents  which  had  raised  high  ex- 
pectations in  another  profession— and  a  heart  young,  ardent  and  gene- 
rous with  every  noble  emotion,  into  the  scale  of  missionary  exer- 
tions. These  shores  witnessed  the  final  consecration  of  the  little  family 
of  which  he  was  a  member  to  the  service  of  their  Redeem  jr  in  a  foreign 
land.  As  their  little  bark  loosed  its  moorings  from  our  beach,  and  they 
bid  as  they  thought  a  last  adieu  to  kindred  friends  and  home  and  their 
native  land,  thousands  of  voices  joined  in  the  parting  hymn— thousands 
of  eves  filled  with  tears  of  sympathy  and  thousands  of  hearts  raised,  as 
we  trust,  the  effectual,  fervent  prayer  of  the  rightheous  for  a  blessing  on 
their  labors.  How  far  those  prayers  have  been  answered,  the  song  of 
hosanna,  and  the  bum  of  industry  now  rising  from  the  islands  of  the 
sea,  can' alone  adequately  tell.  A* future  day  will  proclaim  their  influ- 
ence upon  the  admiring  throng  that  was  left  behind— whether  that 
si<dit  did  not  animate  and  encourage  many  a  Christian  to  persevere  in 
fighting  the  good  fight  and  call  forth  many  a  renewal  of  vows  to  a  cove- 
nant God— whether,  as  a  wondering  world  gazed  with  silence  and  awe 
on  that  holy  spectacle,  there  were  not  some  who  bethought  them  of  the 
reality  of  that  hope  which  could  call  forth  such  a  sacrifice. 

The  melancholy  eveut  which  recalled  him  in  the  midst  of  great  useful- 
ness from  the  scene  of  his  labors,  is  wellknown  to  the  regrets  of  a  sym- 
pathizing Christian  public;  and  the  impressions  left  by  Ins  appeals  to 
the  community  in  behalf  of  missions  in  the  visits  to  the  churches,  made 
by  him  extensively  through  their  native  country  after  his  return,  are  still 
vivid  in  ten  thousand  minds.  ,.      .      .         .       .         _ 

Circumstances,  at  which  Mr.  Stewart  has  limted  in  the  introduction  of 
the  work  before  us,  led  him,  at  the  end  of  two  years  after  his  arrival  in 
America,  to  apply  for  a  chaplaincy  in  the  United  States  naval  service; 
and  as  early  as  November,  1828,  he  received  the  appointment  from  the 
late  secretary  of  the  navy,  the  Honorable  Mr.  Southard— the  friend  and 
counsellor  of  his  youth.  # 

It  was  thus  during  a  voyage  of  the  world,  with  the  peculiar  privileges 
and  opportunities  for  observation  afforded  by  a  government  ship,  amid 


CHARLES    S.    STEWART.  271 

scenes  interesting  to  the  public  and  highly  gratifying  to  his  own  feelings, 
that  the  work  suggesting  the  remarks  was  written.  It  highly  recommends 
itself  to  the  Christian,  rejoicing  to  hear  of  the  extension  of  religion  and 
the  prosperity  of  missions — to  persons  of  polite  reading  who  take  plea- 
sure in  elegant  narratives  and  in  beautiful  descriptions — to  all  interested 
in  the  condition  of  our  navy — in  the  civil  and  moral  aspect  of  our  south- 
ern continent  and  the  rapidly  improving  islands  of  the  Pacific.  It  is  too, 
a  work  highly  suited  to  interest,  amuse  and  instruct  youth.  Scarcely 
any  portion  of  our  globe  of  equal  extent  could  have  been  traversed  with 
more  pleasure  by  the  Christian,  the  patriot,  or  the  philanthropist,  than 
that  which  these  volumes  describe.  Hardly  any  subject  could  have  been 
selected  more  interesting  to  the  public  in  general — but  more  especially 
to  the  Christian  public — and  no  pen  could  have  done  better  justice  to 
its  subject. 

But  it  would  be  idle  in  us  to  speak  in  terms  of  commendation  of  a  writer 
already  so  favorably  and  so  generally  known,  whose  former  work  was  so 
eagerly  sought  after  and  so  universally  admired — having  gone  through 
many  editions  both  in  this  country  and  in  Europe.  Mr.  Stewart,  indeed, 
seems  to  hold  that  place  among  the  journalists  of  the  age,  that  Cowper 
holds  among  the  poets  of  England.  Like  the  compositions  of  that 
Christian  bard,  his  writing  may  be  read  with  equal  pleasure  and  improve- 
ment alike  by  the  scholar,  the  man  of  taste  and  the  humble  disciple  of 
the  cross.  Nay,  more  than  all,  they  are  fit  models  by  which  to  form  the 
taste  and  improve  the  hearts  of  the  rising  generation." 

Another  journal  in  a  critique  on  the  same  work 
says : 

"The  South  Seas  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  popular  works  in 
the  whole  range  of  modern  voyages  and  travels.  The  author  has  long 
enjoyed  an  snviable  celebrity  as  one  of  the  earliest  missionaries  to  the 
Sandwich  Islands,  and  as  the  writer  of  the  admirable  work  entitled  A 
Residence  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  published  after  his  return  to  the 
United  States.  That  work  was  received  with  a  high  degree  of  public 
favor  in  England  as  well  as  in  America.  The  present  volumes  are  des- 
tiued  to  a  still  more  popular  reception  in  both  hemispheres,  while  they 
will  establish  the  reputation  of  the  author  as  one  of  the  most  observing 
travelers  and  best  descriptive  writers  of  the  day.  They  are  indubitably 
from  their  commencement  to  their  end  among  the  most  interesting  and 
delightful  books  of  the  kind  we  have  ever  read." 

These  extracts,  from  a  few  of  many  reviewers,  are 
sufficient  to  give  the  general  character  of  the  re- 
ception and  judgment  by  the  public,  of  the  various 
books  of  travel  which  he  has  published. 

The  year  1832,  Mr.  Stewart  spent,  in  a  tour 
through  England,  Scotland  and  Ireland,  which  is 
also  before  the  public  in  two  volumes;  and  from 
which  it  is  evident  that  he  had  opportunities  of 
observation  then  not  often  enjoyed,  by  access  to  the 
very  highest  circles  and  most  eminent  personages, 


272  CHARLES   S.    STEWART. 

and  by  partaking  of  their  hospitality  in  all  parts  of 
the  kingdom. 

In  the  year  1833-4,  and  again  in  1839-40  and  41  he 
made  a  cruise  in  the  Mediterranean,  during  which  he 
visited  the  kindoms  of  France,  Spain,  Portugal,  Italy, 
Greece,  the  Islands  of  the  Egean,  and  Asia  Minor. 
He  was  presented  at  the  principal  courts,  and  had 
opportunities  of  becoming  personally  known  to 
many  of  the  most  eminent  individuals  in  those 
respective  countries. 

At  present,  and  for  some  time  past,  Mr.  Stewart 
has  held  the  chaplaincy  of  the  naval  station  at 
New  York,  which  affords  him  opportunities  of  ex- 
tensive intercourse  and  influence  with  the  mercan- 
tile marine. 

The  following  paragraph,  from  one  of  the  most 
respectable  reviewers  in  the  country,  referring  to  this 
present  sphere  of  usefulness,  does  him  no  more  than 
justice. 

"  While  the  friends  of  missions  were  lamenting  the  loss  of  a  gifted  and 
faithful  lahorer  in  the  interesting  field  of  usefulness  Mr.  Stewart  had 
occupied,  He  "  whose  ways  are  not  as  our  ways,"  was  leading  him,  by  the 
melancholy  event  occasioning  his  recall,  into  a  sphere  more  interesting,  if 
possihle,  to  the  American  Christian.  As  far  as  man  can  judge,  lew  men 
have  been  better  fitted  to  improve  the  moral  and  religious  condition  of  sea- 
men than  Mr.  Stewart  Manly,  frank,  dignified,  and  polished,  he  quickly 
finds  his  way  to  the  affections  of  the  open  hearted  and  generous  sailor, 
there  to  stamp  the  image  of  his  master.  And  such  is  the  estimation  in 
which  he  is  now  held  by  them,  that  his  name  alone  is  a  passport  to  their 
confidence  and  regard." 

Charles  Scaforth  Stewart,  a  son  of  Mr.  Stewart, 
graduated  at  West  Point  academy  in  1846,  with  the 
first  honors.  He  was  a  member  of  the  largest  gra- 
duating class  that  ever  left  the  institution.  The 
following  extract  from  one  of  the  leading  journals 
will  show  the  estimation  in  which  he  was  held. 

"  The  professed  and  grand  design  of  the  academy  is  to  educate  and 
train  for  the  public  service  the  highest  talent  and  greatest  moral  worth 
that  can  be  secured  in  every  congressional  district  in  the  Union.  In  the 
case  of  the  voung  cadet  referred  to,  this  object  has  been  strikingly  attain- 
ed. From  the  records  of  the  war  department,  it  appears  that  superior 
intellectual  powers  and  high  moral  worth,  united  with  a  sound  constitu- 
tion and  uniform  health,  were  the  prominent  and  strong  grounds  urged 


HARRIET  B.  STEWART.  273 

for  the  appointment  conferred  on  him.  His  course  at  West  Point,  we 
learn,  has  nobly  justified  the  selection.  The  class  he  joined  has  num- 
bered in  all,  since  its  formation,  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  members, 
sixty  of  whom  graduate  the  present  month.  On  the  first  examination 
cadet  Stewart  took  the  head  of  his  class.  He  has  maintained  the  position 
ever  since  with  distinguished  if  uot  unsurpassed  merit  in  the  history  of 
the  academy,  and  graduates  with  the  highest  honors. 

That  his  father  is  a  clergyman,  and  chaplain  in  t tie  navy,  long  known 
and  honored  in  the  religious  and  literary  world,  in  Europe  as  well  as  in 
America,  certainly  furnishes  no  reason  why  tlie  government  should  refuse 
its  patronage  to  such  a  son.  If  it  does,  facts  connected  with  the  young 
man's  origin,  one  step  removed,  would  overthrow  them.  His  grandfather, 
Col.  Charles  Stewart,  of  New  Jersey,  was  among  the  most  active  and 
influential  of  the  patriots  and  soldiers  of  the  tattle  ground  of  the  revolu- 
tion, and  was  successively  a  member  of  the  first  convention  of  that  colony, 
who  formed  and  published  a  declaration  of  rights  against  the  aggressions 
of  the  crown;  a  member  of  its  first  provincial  congress;  colonel  of  its 
first  regiment  of  minute  men;  colonel  of  its  second  regiment  of  troops 
of  the  line,  and  by  appointment  of  the  congress  of  1776,  one  of  the  staff 
of  Washington  till  the  close  of  the  war,  as  commissary-general  of  issues." 


HARRIET  BRADFORD  STEWART. 

pi, HE  following-  highly  interesting-  sketch  of 
the   lamented  wife   of  the   subject   of  the 
preceding  memoir,  is  from  a  work  by  the 
Rev.  R.  W.  Griswold. 

The  next  instance  with  which  we  illustrate 
the  position  that  the  heroism  of  our  American 
women  is  more  courageous,  more  unselfish  and 
more  chivalric  than  that  of  the  knights  errant,  is 
different,  but  by  no  means  less  interesting  than  the 
preceding.  Anne  Hasseltine  and  Harriet  Atwood 
were  born  in  a  New  England  village,  where,  indeed, 
there  was  everything  that  to  their  unschooled  fancies 
could  render  life  attractive;  bat  they  had  seen  little 
of  the  great  world.  In  their  orbits  they  might  have 
been  bright  particular  stars,  but  their  place  was  not 
in  the  fiery  and  glowing  constellations  of  the  high 
regions  of  civility,  where  the  perfection  of  human 
art  is  most  truly  displayed  in  all  that  can  charm 
35 


274  HARRIET  B.  STEWART. 

the  senses  and  induce  forgetfulness  of  the  nature 
and  destiny  of  the  soul.  It  was  different  with  Har- 
riet Bradford  Tiffany.  When  she  decided  to  be- 
come a  missionary,  she  perceived  that  the  decision 
involved  her  abandonment  of  a  refined  and  brilliant 
society,  in  which  she  held  a  rank  that  might  have 
satisfied  the  most  exacting  and  ambitious,  for  a  life 
of  privation  and  peril  in  the  midst  of  the  abjectest 
barbarism.  Yet  without  hesitation  and  without 
regret,  she  yielded  to  the  convictions  of  duty.  With 
the  old  knights,  as  sung  Sir  Galahad, 

"The  scattering  trumpet  shrilleth  high, 

The  hard  brands  shiver  on  the  steel, 
The  splintered  spear-shafts  crack  and  fly, 

The  horse  and  rider  reel : 

They  reel,  they  roll  in  clanging  lists; 

But  when  the  tide  of  combat  stands, 
Perfume  and  flowers  fall  in  showers, 

That  lightly  rain  from  ladies'  hands." 

For  the  missionaries,  however,  there  are  no  such 
artificial  excitements;  their  loftiest  triumphs  bring 
no  "bounteous  aspects;"  they  look  for  only  the 
approval  of  their  own  true  hearts,  the  gratification 
of  a  noble  benevolence,  and  the  ultimate  benedic- 
tion of  "Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servants." 

Miss  Tiffany  was  born  near  Stamford,  in  Connec- 
ticut, on  the  24th  of  June,  1798.  Her  father  was 
honorably  distinguished  as  a  colonel  in  the  revolu- 
tion, and  her  mother  was  a  descendant  of  William 
Bradford,  the  leader  of  the  pilgrims  of  Leyden,  and 
for  thirty  years  the  governor  of  Plymouth  colony. 
When  a  child,  she  was  distinguished  for  a  winning 
sweetness  of  disposition  and  a  lively  sensibility; 
and  the  celebrated  Gouverneur  Morris,  who  was  in 
the  habit  of  meeting  her  at  the  Springs  of  Lebanon, 
often  spoke  of  her  as  presenting  at  this  period  one 
of  the  most  perfect  pictures  of  beautiful  childhood 
he  had  ever  seen.  Her  father  died  while  she  was 
very  young,  and  she  passed  her  youth  chiefly  under 
the  guardianship  of  an  uncle,  in  Albany;  but  the 


HARRIET  B.  STEWART.  275 

marriage  of  an  elder  sister,  in  1815,  to  a  gentleman 
of  Cooperstown.  led  her  from  that  time  to  make 
his  house  her  abode;  and  the  appointment  of  her 
brother,  soon  after,  to  the  rectorship  of  the  episcopal 
church  in  that  village,  brought  into  nearer  associa- 
tion than  for  many  previous  years  all  the  members 
of  her  family. 

The  two  or  three  succeeding  years,  observes  Mr. 
Stewart  in  the  beautiful  memoir  from  which  we 
derive  these  particulars,  were  to  her  a  period  of 
much  enjoyment;  hut  the  sunshine  of  earthly  hap- 
piness seldom  warms  the  heart  into  a  love  for  God, 
or  is  made  the  means  of  converting  the  soul  to  His 
service;  and  it  was  not  until  the  occurrence  of  a 
protracted  and  dangerous  illness,  in  the  summer  of 
1819,  that  she  became  convinced  of  the  necessity 
of  spiritual  peace  to  the  highest  felicity  even  in  the 
present  existence. 

It  was  two  years  after  her  recovery  —  in  the  au- 
tumn of  1821 — that  she  received  an  offer  of  marriage 
from  the  Rev.  C.  S.  Stewart,  then  just  appointed  by 
the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  a  mission- 
ary to  the  Sandwich  Islands.  She  was  absent  from 
Cooperstown,  and  in  the  letters  which  she  wrote  at 
the  time  to  her  mother  and  to  others,  letters  which 
illustrate  alike  her  piety,  the  beautiful  order  of  her 
character,  and  the  cultivation  of  her  mind,  her  feel- 
ings, are  fully  disclosed.  "Oh!  how  much,"  she 
wrote  to  a  dear  friend,  "how  much  do  I  need  ad- 
vice, yet  how  unwilling  to  seek  it  except  of  God. 
To  Him  I  do  go,  and  on  Him  alone  it  is  my  wish 
to  depend  for  guidance,  in  this  most  important 
event  of  my  life.  In  myself  I  am  short-sighted  and 
blind,  and  know  not  in  any  case,  what  is  best  even 
for  my  own  good:  how  much,  then,  do  I  not  now 
stand  in  need  of  the  kind  and  overruling  direction 
of  a  Father,  and  of  heavenly  wisdom  and  grace. 
In  Him  I  trust  for  strength  and  support,  and  in 
casting  my  cares  upon  Him,  find  peace.     I  know 


276  HARRIET  B.  STEWART. 

that  He  will  order  all  things  well;  and  it  is  my 
earnest  prayer,  that  He  will  make  my  path  of  duty 
plain,  and  enable  me  to  walk  in  it,  whatever  it  may 
be,  with  a  cheerful  will." 

She  submitted  her  decision,  tremblingly,  to  her 
mother,  to  whom  she  was  bound  with  a  most  tender 
devotion.  "The  warm  benevolence  of  her  nature 
is  such,"  she  wrote,  "that  when  the  miseries  of  her 
fellow  creatures  are  known  to  her,  she  hesitates  at 
no  self-denial,  nor  sacrifice  of  personal  feeling,  to 
impart  relief;  but  to  consign  a  child  she  most  ten- 
derly loves,  and  to  whom  in  common  with  her  other 
children  she  has  been  entirely  devoted,  to  a  life  of 
privation,  of  suffering  and  of  danger,  and  a  thousand 
ills  which  unbidden  present  themselves  to  the  im- 
agination, will  call  into  exercise  her  whole  stock  of 
piety.  Happy  will  she  be  if  her  faith  fail  not." 
Her  faith  did  not  fail.  By  a  letter,  the  reception  of 
which  is  noted  on  the  4th  of  January,  1822,  she 
surrendered  her  daughter  cheerfully  to  a  distant 
and  self-denying  exile.  Miss  Tiffany  now  returned, 
to  Cooperstown,  to  pass  a  few  weeks  with  her  family, 
and  to  prepare  for  her  departure.  The  scenes  of 
separation,  the  ocean  and  its  storms,  dangers  and 
death  in  a  savage  land,  often  flitted  in  shadowy 
forms  before  her;  but  she  did  not  falter.  In  a  spirit 
of  humble  and  confiding  faith  and  brave  determin- 
ation, she  consecrated  herself  to  the  missionary 
work.  On  the  3d  of  June  she  was  married,  at  Al- 
bany; on  the  19th  of  November,  in  a  company  of 
some  thirty  missionaries  with  whom  they  were  to 
be  associated,  she  and  her  husband  embarked  at 
New  Haven,  and  after  a  voyage  of  near  six  months, 
on  the  27th  of  April,  1823,  they  arrived  at  Honolulu, 
in  Oahu,  the  principal  port  of  the  Sandwich  Islands. 

In  the  appointments  of  the  missionaries  to  the 
different  islands  of  the  group,  soon  alter  their  land- 
ing, Mr.  and  Mrs.  Stewart  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rich- 
ards were  assigned  to  Maui,  three  days'   sail  from 


HARRIET  B.  STEWART.  277 

Oahu;  and  here,  at  the  town  of  Lahaiua,  in  the 
midst  of  twenty  thousand  of  the  rudest  and  most 
ignorant  and  superstitious  heathen,  they  took  up 
their  abode.  Their  new  home  consisted  of  two 
small  native  huts,  each  of  a  single  apartment,  and 
furnished  with  mats,  their  trunks,  and  a  few  seats 
and  tables  made  of  the  packing-boxes  they  had 
carried  from  America.  But  great  as  was  this 
change  to  Mrs.  Stewart,  from  the  elegancies  and 
luxuries  to  which  she  had  been  accustomed,  "the 
sun  in  its  circuit  rose  and  set  upon  no  brighter  brow, 
nor  upon  a  more  contented  heart."  She  wrote  in  a 
letter  dated  the  1st  of  January,  1824,  "It  is  now 
fifteen  months  since  I  bade  adieu  to  the  dear  valley 
which  contains  much,  very  much,  that  is  most  dear 
to  me;  but  since  the  day  I  parted  from  it  my  spirits 
have  been  uniformly  good.  Sometimes  it  is  true, 
a  cloud  of  tender  recollections  passes  over  me,  ob- 
scuring for  a  moment  my  mental  vision,  and  threat- 
ening a  day  of  darkness;  but  it  is  seldom.  And  as 
the  returning  sun,  after  a  summer  shower,  spreads 
his  beams  over  the  retiring  gloom  of  the  heavens 
and  stretches  abroad  the  shining  arch  of  promise  to 
cheer  the  face  of  nature,  so,  at  such  times,  do  the 
rays  of  the  sun  of  righteousness  speedily  illumine 
the  hopes  of  my  soul,  and  fill  my  bosom  with  joy 
and  peace."  About  six  months  afterward  she  wrote 
to  her  friends,  "  We  are  most  contented  and  most 
happy,  and  rejoice  that  God  has  seen  fit  to  honor 
and  bless  us  by  permitting  us  to  be  the  bearers  of 
his  light  and  truth  to  this  dark  corner  of  the  earth. 
Could  you  feel  the  same  gladness  that  often  fills  our 
bosoms,  in  witnessing  the  happy  influence  of  the 
Gospel  on  the  minds  and  hearts  of  many  of  these 
interesting  creatures,  you  would  be  satisfied,  yes 
more  than  satisfied,  that  we  should  be  what  we  are, 
and  where  we  are,  poor  missionaries  in  the  distant  islands 
of  the  sea." 


278  HARRIET  B.  STEWART. 

Mrs.  Stewart's  health  continued  to  be  good  until 
the  month  of  March,  in  1825,  when  some  over- 
exertion during  the  illness  of  nearly  all  the  other 
members  of  the  mission  family,  laid  the  foundation 
of  a  disease  which  in  a  few  weeks  brought  her  to 
the  very  gates  of  death.  While  she  was  in  this 
condition,  the  Sandwich  Islands  were  visited  by 
Lord  Byron,  in  the  Blonde  ship  of  war,  and  this 
nobleman  kindly  offered  her  a  passage  to  Hawaii, 
which  was  accepted;  but  the  change  of  air  during 
a  month  in  which  the  ship  was  refitting  for  the  sea, 
having  failed  of  its  effect,  it  was  decided  by  the 
mission,  under  the  advice  of  several  physicians,  to 
be  Mr.  Stewart's  duty  to  return  with  her  to  the 
United  States.  They  accordingly  availed  them- 
selves of  the  first  opportunity  to  sail  for  London, 
where  they  arrived  in  April,  1826.  Mrs.  Stewart 
was  now  in  a  state  of  helplessness  and  imminent 
danger;  but  after  a  residence  of  three  months  in 
England,  she  was  able  to  continue  her  homeward 
voyage;  and  embarking  near  the  end  of  July,  she 
reached  New  York  after  a  pleasant  passage;  and 
on  the  13th  of  September  was  reunited  with  her 
friends  in  the  valley  of  Otsego. 

It  was  her  first  wish  to  have  a  restoration  of  such 
strength  as  would  warrant  a  return  with  her  hus- 
band to  the  mission,  in  which  their  evident  useful- 
ness had  amply  vindicated  the  accordance  of  their 
original  dedication  of  themselves  with  the  will  of 
God.  But  they  were  both  reluctantly  compelled  to 
abandon  the  expectation  of  safely  revisiting  a  tropi- 
cal climate.  In  January,  1830,  Mrs.  Stewart  was 
again  laid  upon  a  bed  of  suffering;  and  after  linger- 
ing for  eight  months  upon  the  verge  of  life,  with 
the  most  child-like  and  confiding  trust  in  the  grace 
and  mercy  of  the  All  Friend,  she  fell  into  the  sleep 
which  knows  no  earthly  waking. 


JOHN    NEWTON. 


27y 


JOHN  NEWTON. 

The  voice  of  Old  Age,  while  it  tells  some  old  story, 

Exults  o'er  the  tale  with  fresh  warmth  in  the  breast, 
As  the  haze  of  the  twilight  e'er  deepens  the  glory 

Of  beams  that  are  fast  going  down  in  the  west. 
When  the  friends  of  our  boyhood  are  gathered  around  us, 

The  spirit  retraces  its  wild  flower  track; 
The  heart  is  still  held  by  the  strings  that  first  bound  us, 

And  Feeling  keeps  singing,  while  wandering  back, 
"Don't  you  remember?" 

EAUTIFULLY  situated  in  the  town  of 
Middlefield,    Massachusetts,  and  nes- 
tled by  the  side  of  a  green  mountain, 
rmay  be  seen  a  plain  white  cottage  of 
the  olden  time.     At  the  door  is  a  never- 
failing  spring,  whose  waters,  clear  as  crys- 
tal, go  murmuring  along  evermore  as  Time 
flows  unto  Eternity. 


In  this  sweet  solitude  the  sunny  weather 

Hath  called  to  life  light  shades  and  fairy  elves; 
The  rose-buds  lay  their  crimson  lips  together, 

And  the  green  leaves  are  whispering  to  themselves; 
The  clear,  faint  starlight  on  the  blue  wave  flashes, 

And,  filled  with  odors  sweet,  the  south  wind  blows; 
The  purple  clusters  load  the  lilac  bushes, 

And  fragrant  blossoms  fringe  the  apple  boughs. 


Pleasant  sights  are  these  to  one  wearied  with  the 
dull  formality  of  a  city  life.  O  truly  there  are  wak- 
ing dreams  which  come  upon  us  sometimes  when 
we  least  expect  them — bright  dreams  of  love  and 
home  and  heaven — sweet  visions  of  a  happier 
existence,  where  flowers  shall  eternally  spring  up 
to  bless  us  with  their  presence.  This  is  a  beautiful 
world  after  all;  and  its  few  days,  its  wilderness 
wanderings,  make  us  prize  the  sunlight  all  the 
more. 

A  short  time  ago,  an  aged  pilgrim  might  have 
been  seen   at   that   cottage  window  in  the   quiet 


280  JOHN   NEWTON. 

evening  hour,  reading  the  sacred  Bible,  with  the  last 
red  ray,  resting  like  a  glory  upon  her  brow.  The 
thoughts  of  many  of  her  sons,  scattered  in  various 
parts  of  the  Union,  would  often  conjure  up  that 
picture;  with  the  vision  of  their  childhood's  home 
far  off  among  the  green  hills,  came  that  pleasant 
face — the  face  of  a  beloved  mother.  But  after  a 
few  setting  suns,  the  Bible  was  closed,  for  a  good 
angel  had  come  down  from  the  blue  heavens  and 
beckoned  the  reader  away !  That  Bible  was  closed ; 
but  Heaven,  the  land  of  the  Bible,  opened  in  its 
stead ! 

In  that  same  cottage  is  another  aged  Christian, 
whose  years  have  nearly  numbered  a  century.  It 
is  John  Newton,  the  husband  of  the  departed.  He 
has  seen  many  troubles,  but  God's  blessing  is  upon 
him — the  blessing  of  a  cheerful  heart.  His  vision 
is  failing,  but  there  is  a  light  of  kindly  cheerfulness 
that  burns  within,  that  we  may  not  often  see  in  this 
world  of  care  and  grief;  and  it  was  with  a  feeling 
of  reverence  that  the  author  gleaned  from  him  the 
following  particulars: 

His  paternal  ancestor  was  Israel  Newton.  He, 
with  his  wife,  left  England  on  account  of  religious 
persecution,  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  and  settled  at  Narraganset,  where  he  had 
two  sons  besides  several  daughters.  Alice,  the  eld- 
est, married  an  Englishman  named  Robert  Ransom. 
She  lived  to  a  great  age,  and  was  the  mother  of 
eleven  children.  It  appears  from  an  old  newspaper, 
that  she  had,  previous  to  her  death,  two  hundred 
descendants  in  the  fourth,  and  one  hundred  and 
twenty-two  in  the  fifth  generation.  There  is  a 
pleasing  and  well-authenticated  incident  in  connex- 
ion with  the  marriage  of  Alice,  which  is  worthy  of 
record.  It  appears  that  Ransom,  soon  after  his 
arrival  at  Narraganset,  became  deeply  enamored  of 
his  future  wife;  but  with  the  instinct  of  a  true 
lover,  he  saw  there  was  a  great  difficulty  in  his 


JOHN    NEWTON.  281 

path.  It  was,  that  he  could  neither  read  nor  write! 
Now  Alice  was  a  well  educated  and  pious  maiden, 
and  it  was  not  to  be  thought  probable  that  her  dark 
eyes  would  look  lovingly  upon  a  suitor  so  lamenta- 
bly deficient.  But  says  the  wise  man,  "Love  is 
stronger  than  death- — many  waters  cannot  quench 
it,  neither  can  the  floods  drown  it."  So  Robert, 
like  an  able  general,  successfully  managed  to  con- 
ceal the  defenceless  portion  of  his  position.  AVhen 
in  the  company  of  lady  love,  he  invariably  had  re- 
ligious books  with  him,  and  would  at  times  appear 
devoutly  absorbed  in  the  study  of  them.  It  has 
been  said,  though  with  more  poetry  than  truth,  that 
"Affection,  like  spring  flowers,  breaks  through  the 
most  frozen  soil  at  last,"  and  the  guileless  Alice,  no 
doubt  looking  forward  to  a  happy  future  in  the 
literary  society  of  Robert,  listened  to  his  soft  whis- 
pers; and  for  once  in  this  wide  world,  two  hearts 
were  wreathed  with  the  garland  of  first  love!  "Most 
happy,  most  blessed  are  those,  on  whose  first  love 
the  seal  of  reality  has  been  set,  whose  summer  has 
developed  and  ripened  the  seed  sown  in  spring- 
time, and  whose  worship  through  life,  is  at  the 
altar  on  which  the  vestal  fire  has  been  lighted." 
Life  is  rich.  Its  tree  blossoms  eternally,  because  it 
is  nourished  by  immortal  fountains.  And  youthful 
love — the  beaming  passion-flower  of  earth  !  Who 
will  belie  its  captivating  beauty?  Alas  that  such 
love  should  be  unrequited,  or  turned  back  in  cold- 
ness upon  the  crushed  heart  of  its  giver ! 

Hark!  hark!  again  the  tread  of  bashful  feet! 

Hark!  the  boughs  rustling  round  the  trysting-place! 
Let  air  again  with  one  dear  breath  be  sweet, 
Earth  fair  with  one  dear  face ! 

Brief  lived  first  flowers,  first  love!  the  hours  steal  on, 

To  prank  the  world  in  summer's  pomp  of  hue; 
liut  what  shall  flaunt  beneath  a  fiercer  sun 

Worth  what  we  lose  in  you  ? 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  this  literary  decep- 
tion could  be  continued  after  marriage,  for  the  facts 
36 


282  JOHN   NEWTON. 

soon  came  out  in  bold  relief.  On  the  day  after  the , 
wedding,  Alice  suggested  the  propriety  of  com- 
mencing the  practice  of  daily  reading  and  prayer 
at  the  family  altar.  But  what  was  her  aslonish- 
ment  on  hearing  her  partner  make  a  full  confession 
of  his  guilt,  stating  that  his  sole  object  in  pretend- 
ing to  read,  was  to  obtain  her !  Now  Alice  was  a 
true  woman,  and  the  fault,  of  which  he  had  been 
guilty  out  of  love  to  her,  could  not  remain  long  un- 
fbrgiven.  But,  O  the  perseverance  of  woman  !  she 
commenced  that  very  hour  to  give  him  lessons,  and 
it  was  not  very  long  ere  Robert  could  both  read  and 
write ;  and,  until  they  were  gathered  to  the  green 
garden  of  the  dead,  the  murmur  of  the  daily  prayer 
went  up  to  the  great  Author  of  Love. 

At  a  subsequent  period,  which  cannot  be  pre- 
cisely ascertained,  Israel,  the  father  of  Alice,  re- 
moved with  his  family  to  the  place  which  now 
comprises  the  town  of  Colchester,  in  Connecticut. 
At  that  time  the  land  was  so  cheap  that  he  could 
have  purchased  the  whole  for  a  moderate  sum.  He 
died  full  of  years,  and  was  buried  in  the  rear  of  the 
congregational  meeting  house,  where  his  tomb- 
stone, supported  by  carved  pillars,  may  yet  be  seen. 

The  two  sons  of  the  above  named  Israel  Newton, 
were  Israel  and  James  Newton.  James*  was  the 
paternal  grandfather  of  John  Newton  of  Middlefield. 
Israel  was  a  major,  and  was  at  the  taking  of  Louis- 
burg,  where  he  shortly  afterwards  died  from  over- 
fatigue. They  were  both  deacons  of  the  congre- 
gational church. 

James  had  three  sons,  John,  James  and  Israel.f 

*  From  the  Colchester  town  records,  it  appears  that  Ephraim  Little 
was  ordained  pastor  of  the  first  congregational  church  in  that  place, 
September  20,  1732,  and  on  the  list  of  the  male  members  of  the  church, 
made  out  by  him,  Captain  James  Newton  stands  first.  From  the  same 
record  it  appears  that  James  Newton  married  the  widow  Barnard,  and  that 
he  died  in  the  85th  year  of  his  age. 

\  Israel  was  a  man  of  extraordinary  strength.  On  one  occasion,  ow- 
ing to  a  jocular  remark  by  a  neighbor,  he  took  hold  of  a  plow,  and 
in  spite  of  the  exertions  of  a  powerful  horse,  urged  by  the  whip,  held 


JOHN   NEWTON.  283 

John,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  was 
born  at  Colchester,  Connecticut,  in  1722.  On  the 
27th  of  December,  1756,  he  married  Mary  Holbrook 
of  Lebanon,  Connecticut.  He  died  in  1807,  aged 
eighty-five.  His  wife  died  in  1818,  at  the  same 
age. 

John  Newton,  of  Middlefield,  was  born  at  Col- 
chester, on  the  8th  of  April,  1758,  and  was  brought 
up  on  his  father's  farm.  He  had  three  brothers, 
James,  Abel  and  Amasa;  also  a  sister  Mary. 

When  about  twenty  years  of  age,  John  was  sent 
to  AYyoming,  in  Pennsylvania,  to  attend  to  a  farm, 
owned  by  his  father  in  that  section.  This  was  in 
the  troublesome  times,  just  previous  to  the  massa- 
cre under  Brandt.  On  his  arrival  he  discovered, 
that,  owing  to  the  number  of  Indians  concealed  in 
various  parts,  it  was  necessary  to  go  constantly 
armed.  So  that  every  man  at  work  upon  his  land 
invariably  had  a  loaded  gun  within  reach.  Not- 
withstanding this  precaution,  many  were  the  lives 
lost  by  Indians  firing  from  the  shelter  of  trees. 
Matters,  however,  were  soon  brought  to  a  crisis,  for 
on  the  arrival  of  Brandt,  with  Indians  and  Tories 
"  numerous  as  the  leaves  of  the  forest,"  the  surviv- 
ing settlers  ran  for  safety  to  the  forts.  After  the 
caption  by  the  Indians  of  the  upper  fort,  John  made 
the  best  of  his  way  to  the  middle  fort,  which  he 
supposed  was  still  in  the  possession*  of  the  whites. 
But  on  ascending  a  hill,  a  short  distance  from  the  fort, 
he  was  astonished  at  seeing  a  number  of  Indians  out- 
it  stationary  for  some  minutes.  On  another  occasion,  being  assaulted  by 
a  notorious  bully,  who  was  the  dread  of  the  settlement,  Israel,  to  the 
great  delight  of  the  people,  inflicted  such  a  summary  chastisement  upon 
the  fellow,  as  to  render  him  humble  ever  after.  At  another  time,  when 
justice  of  the  peace  and  quite  old,  he  was  met  in  the  road  by  a  youn<* 
tanner,  who,  glorying  in  his  strength,  laughingly  said,  "  Scjuire  Newton, 
I  know  that  I  coud  throw  you."  "  You  throw  me,"  said  the  squire,  "  why, 
I  could  throw  you  with  one  finger."  So,  by  mutual  agreement,  they  tried 
the  experiment.  The  squire  placed  his  tore  finger  in  the  neckcloth  of 
his  antagonist,  and,  although  he  did  not  succeed  in  throwing  him,  he 
swung  him  to  and  fro  so  powerfully,  that  the  latter  was  very  soon  satis- 
fied. 


234  JOHN   NEWTON. 

side,  who,  as  soon  as  they  observed  him,  immediately 
ran  within.  Instantly  sheltering  himself  behind  a 
large  tree,  John  flew  with  all  his  might  towards 
the  lower  fort,  closely  followed  by  a  party  of  Indians, 
who,  on  his  first  appearance  near  the  middle  fort, 
had  supposed  him  to  be  the  head  of  a  detachment ; 
hence  their  sudden  retreat. 

On  the  arrival  at  the  lower  fort,  John  found  its 
occupants  engaged  in  the  funeral  service  over  one  of 
their  number;  but  on  his  apprising  them  of  the 
near  approach  of  the  foe,  the  chaplain  broke  off  his 
prayer,  and  all  seized  their  arms,  having  but  little 
hope  of  escaping  the  savage  demons  around  them; 
the  capitulation  of  this  fort,  and  the  occurrences  of 
the  horrible  massacre  of  Wyoming,  are  too  well 
known  to  need  description. 

A  very  valuable  horse  belonging  to  John,  having 
been  taken  by  the  Indians  as  a  pack  horse  to  carry 
off  the  spoil,  he,  faint  and  weary,  made  the  best  of 
his  way  home  through  the  trackless  wilderness,  be- 
ing a  great  portion  of  the  time  without  food  and 
suffering  almost  every  hardship.  To  give  in  detail 
this  interesting  portion  of  his  life,  would  require  a 
volume. 

On  the  3d  of  February,  17S5,  John  Newton  mar- 
ried Martha  Whiting,  of  Colchester,  with  whom  he 
lived  happily  for  nearly  sixty-four  years.  She  died 
at  Middlefield,-  Massachusetts,  December  the  5th, 
1848.  She  was,  for  a  great  many  years,  a  member 
of  the  baptist  church* 

Burning  with  indignation  against  the  tyranny  of 

*  Her  paternal  ancestor  was  a  Frenchman,  named  Raymond,  who, 
with  his  wife,  lived  for  some  time  on  Block  Island.  A  law  having  heen 
passed,  forhidding  any  man  from  giving  "aid  or  comfort"  to  the  notori- 
ous pirate  Kitld,  it  is  said  that  the  wife  of  Raymond,  in  defiance  of  the 
law,  had  several  cattle  driven  down  to  the  coast  for  the  pirate,  who,  in 
return,  rewarded  her  handsomely  with  gold.  On  heing  called  to  ac- 
count hy  the  authorities,  it  is  said  she  was  her  own  counsel,  and  extorted 
a  reluctant  acquittal  hy  pointing  out  the  fact  that  the  word  of  the  law 
prohibited  only  "men,"  and  not  women.  It  is  added  that  no  time  was 
lost  iu  including  the  feminine  gender. 


JOHN   NEWTON.  285 

the  British,  John  served  a  considerable  period  in  the 
revolutionary  war,  and  he  was  one  of  those  who 
worked  so  laboriously  in  the  erection  of  Fort  Trum- 
bull. 

Soon  after  his  marriage,  having  exchanged  farms 
with  a  brother,  the  subject  of  our  sketch  removed 
from  Colchester  to  Middlefield,  his  present  resi- 
dence. The  country  was  then  a  wilderness,  and 
there  were  innumerable  difficulties  to  overcome,  of 
which  the  modern  farmer  can  form  but  little  idea. 

Feeling  rather  above  being  in  a  log  house,  John, 
at  considerable  expense  and  trouble,  erected  a  neat 
frame  dwelling,  the  foundation  of  which  is  still  to 
be  seen.  With  the  wisdom  of  riper  years,  he  regrets 
that  he  did  not  purchase  stock  for  his  farm  instead 
of  thus  gratifying  his  pride.  In  a  short  time  his 
troubles  commenced,  for  one  of  his  oxen  died,  and 
his  only  horse  was  killed  by  the  falling  of  a  tree. 
But  his  motto  was  "  hope  on,  hope  ever,"  and  with 
an  invincible  perseverance,  his  house  in  the  forest 
soon  became  the  abode  of  comfort.  It  is  now  more 
than  sixty  years  since  he  settled  at  Middlefield;  and 
this  venerable  man  must  often  revert  with  pleasure 
to  the  season  of  his  early  difficulties;  and  comfort 
himself  with  the  reflection,  that  a  cool  head,  an  in- 
vigorating mind,  a  warm  heart  and  diligent  hands, 
with  benevolence  and  honesty,  piety  and  persever- 
ance, will  insure  success  in  any  laudable  undertak- 
ing within  the  sphere  of  personal  ability. 

Mr.  Newton  became  a  member  of  the  baptist 
church  at  Hinsdale,  Massachusetts,  of  which  he 
was  appointed  deacon,  nearly  half  a  century  ago. 

He  has  had  six  sons  and  one  daughter.  The 
name  of  the  daughter  was  Lucy.  She  died  on  the 
loth  of  November,  1811,  in  the  fourteenth  year  of 
her  age,  and  was  buried  at  Middlefield. 

The  eldest  son,  William,  a  self-made  man  in  the 
fullest  sense  of  the  word,  and  deservedly  respected, 
was  born  at  Bozrah,  Connecticut.     His  first  wife 


286  JOHN   NEWTON. 

was  Miss  Frances  Longyear.  She  died  while  on  a 
visit  to  Middlefield,  after  a  short  illness,  on  the  28th 
of  August,  1822,  aged  twenty-eight  years  and  nine 
months.  She  was  much  beloved  by  all  who  knew 
her,  and  her  memory  will  long  be  cherished.  Her 
remains  lie  in  the  beautiful  burial  ground  at  Mid- 
dlefield, near  those  of  Lucy  and  Martha.  She  had 
four  daughters,  three  of  whom  are  now  living.* 

John  Milton  Newton,  the  second  son,  a  man  of 
indomitable  energy,  resides  at  Newton's  Corners,  a 
most  delightful  and  rapidly  increasing  settlement, 
named  after  him,  a  few  miles  from  Albany.  He 
has  a  son  and  a  daughter. 

Amasa  resides  in  Ohio,  Henry  in  Illinois,  and  Asa 
in  Kentucky.  Ambrose  the  youngest  son,  a  man 
of  great  intelligence  and  a  practical  farmer,  married 
Miss  Meacham.     He  has  served  in  the  Massachu- 

*  Sarah  the  eldest  married  Mr.  James  H  Baker.  She  died  at  Newport, 
Herkimer  county,  New  York,  on  the  10th  of  June,  1842.  She  was  of  a 
most  amiable  disposition,  and  from  a  child  exhibited  traits  of  character 
seldom  seen.     Truly 

Earth  has  its  angels,  though  their  forms  are  moulded 

Hut  of  such  clay  as  fashions  all ; 
Though  harps  are  wanting  and  bright  pinions  folded, 

We"1  know  them  by  the  love-light  on  their  brow. 

She  had  long  been  a  faithful  follower  of  the  Saviour,  and  had  adorned 
her  profession  by  a  well  ordered  life  and  a  godly  conversation.  She  was 
ill  but  the  short  space  of  eight  days;  and  ere  the  arrival  of  a  beloved 
sister  from  Albany,  she  had  departed  to  that  "  beautiful  of  lands,"  where 
there  is  no  more  weeping,  and  where  the  remembrance  of  pain  is  swal- 
lowed up  in  happiness  unspeakable. 

The  vine-flower  and  the  briar  rose 

Above  thy  grave  sod  bloom; 
And  in  the  undisturbed  repose 

Breathe  out  their  sweet  perfume; 
"While  flitting  birds  shall  fold  their  wings, 

And  warble  to  the  air, 
As  if  to  calm  the  sorrowings 

Of  those  who  linger  there. 

Two  weeks  previous  to  her  decease,  a  near  relative  had  a  remarkable 
dream  to  that  effect,  and  awoke  in  tears.  Her  fears  were  smiled  at,  but 
the  fact  thus  foreshadowed  proved  true. 

The  far  wandering  of  the  soul  in  dreams, 

Calling  up  shrouded  faces  from  the  dead, 
And  with  them  bringing  soft  or  solemn  gleams, 

Familiar  objects  brightly  to  o'er  spread, 
And  wakening  buried  love,  or  joy  to  fear— 
These  are  nights'  mysteries.     Who  shall  make  them  clear  ? 


JOHN   NEWTON.  287 

setts  legislature,  and  resides  at  Middlefield.  He 
also  has  one  son  and  daughter. 

Ere  another  year  has  passed,  with  its  beautiful 
hopes,  its  sunshine  and  its  flowers,  its  sorrows  and 
its  tears,  it  may  be  that  the  venerable  John  Newton 
will  have  gone  to  his  happy  home.  But  when  he 
dies,  what  a  volume  of  history  will  be  for  ever  lost. 
"  What  springs  laden  with  blossoms  have  been  his; 
what  sunny  and  beautiful  summers;  what  autumns 
with  their  golden  fruit!  He  is  a  relic  of  forgotten 
years.  He  has  survived  the  overthrow  of  nations, 
and  the  changes  of  dynasties,  and  crumbling  of 
thrones.  He  was  old  when  the  star  of  Napoleon 
went  down  on  Waterloo,  and  yet  lives  to  see  another 
of  the  name  sway  the  destinies  of  France. 

"When  youth  is  crushed  by  the  iron  tread  of 
death,  we  shrink  and  are  sad;  when  manhood  is 
broken  down  we  tremble;  but  when  old  age,  after 
a  long  contest,  yields  at  last,  then  men  may  smile." 

In  the  town  records  of  Stonington,  Connecticut,  is  a  notice  of  Matthew- 
Newton  who  married  Mary  Tifft,  and  who  had  a  son  Matthew,  horn  Jan- 
uary 12,  1727. 

On  a  tomb  at  Milford,  Connecticut,  is  the  following  inscription : 
The  truly  honorable  and  pious  Roger  Newton,  Esq.,  an  officer  of  dis- 
tinguished note  in  ye  expeditions  of  1709  and  1710,  for  many  years  one 
of  ye  council,  and  colonel  of  the  second  regiment  of  militia,— judge  of 
the  court  of  common  pleas  &3  years,  until  he  departed  this  life  January 
15,  1771,  in  the  87th  year  of  his  age. 

His  mind  returned  to  God,  entombed  here  lies 
The  part  the  hero  left  beneath  the  skies ; 
Newton  as  steel,  inflexible  from  right 
In  faith,  in  law,  in  equity,  in  fight. 


258  LYMAN   TREMAIN. 


LYMAN  TREMAIN. 

'HEN  Lord  Eldon  was  senior  resident  fellow 
,  of  University  college,  two  undergraduates 
!Wjyv  came  to  complain  to  him  that  "the  cook 
|P  had  sent  them  up  an  apple  pie  that  could  not  be 
eaten."  The  defendant  being  summoned,  said, 
"I  have  a  remarkably  fine  fillet  of  veal  in  the  kitch- 
en." The  judge  immediately  overruled  this  plea  as 
tendering  an  immaterial  issue,  and  ordered  a  prqferat 
in  curiam  of  the  apple  pie.  The  messenger  sent  to 
execute  this  order,  brought  intelligence  that  the  other 
under-graduates,  taking  advantage  of  the  absence  of 
the  two  plaintiffs,  had  eaten  up  the  whole  of  the 
apple  pie.  Thereupon  judgment  was  thus  pro- 
nounced :  "  The  charge  here  is,  that  the  cook  has 
sent  up  an  apple  pie  that  cannot  be  eaten.  Now, 
that  can  not  be  said  to  be  uneatable,  which  has  been 
eaten;  and  as  this  apple  pie  has  been  eaten,  it  was 
eatable.     Let  the  cook  be  absolved." 

So  a  similar  judgment  must  be  pronounced  against 
those  who,  in  the  face  of  facts,  are  constantly  con- 
tending, that  age  is  indispensable  to  the  possession 
of  great  knowledge.  A  better  instance  than  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  could  not  have  been  selected 
for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  fallacy  of  such  a 
belief. 

It  is  true,  the  lives  of  but  few  men,  before  they 
arrive  at  middle  age,  present  materials  sufficient  to 
allow  them  a  place  among  the  eminent  of  their  land. 
Occasionally,  however,  it  happens,  that  we  see  one, 
long  before  he  has  reached  the  meridian  of  life,  urged 
forward  by  the  spirit  within  him,  rising  like  a  bright 
star  above  the  horizon.  And  although  enjoying  ad- 
vantages, or  placed  in  circumstances  in  no  degree 
superior  to  the  mass  around  him,  yet  we  see  him 
alone  the  architect  of  his  fortune,  surmounting  all 


LYMAN    TREMAIN.  289 

obstacles,  carving  out  for  himself  a  name,  and  leav- 
ing all  competitors  in  the  race  for  honorable  dis- 
tinction, in  the  distance, 

The  mention  of  the  name  at  the  head  of  this 
sketch,  to  those  acquainted  with  the  individual  who 
bears  it,  will  suggest  to  them  an  instance  of  one, 
who,  in  extreme  youth,  and  while  others  of  riper 
years,  with  severe  toil,  were  yet  slowly  acquiring 
the  elements  of  knowledge  and  science,  had  already, 
with  a  mental  power  which  seemed  intuitive,  mas- 
tered these,  and  entered  upon  the  severe  studies 
which  were  to  prepare  him  for  the  discharge  of  the 
onerous  duties  of  the  profession  to  which  he  is  de- 
votedly attached,  and  in  which  he  may  be  said  to 
have  already  become  eminent,  at  an  age  when  most 
of  his  associates  were  just  entering  upon  its  active 
duties. 

Judge  Tremain  was  born  on  the  14th  of  June, 
1819,  in  Durham,  Greene  county,  N.  Y.,  a  quiet 
town,  situated  twenty  miles  west  of  the  Hudson 
river,  whose  inhabitants,  mostly  devoted  to  agricul- 
tural pursuits,  constitute  as  moralj  industrious  and 
thriving  a  community,  as  is  to  be  found  within  the 
limits  of  New- York.  His  father,  Levi  Tremain, 
with  his  wife,  came  to  Durham,  where  he  settled 
in  the  year  1812,  from  Berkshire  county,  Mass.;  a 
region  of  country  to  which  one  may  be  proud  to 
trace  his  ancestry,  and  to  which  may  be  referred, 
directly  or  remotely,  many  of  the  brightest  intellects 
now  to  be  found  in  almost  every  part  of  this  wide- 
spread country.  His  parents,  although  in  middle 
life,  are  distinguished  in  a  more  than  ordinary  de- 
gree, for  the  intelligence  and  shrewdness  of  their 
fatherland,  mingled  with  a  sprightliness  and  humor 
but  rarely  found  in  those  who  have  passed  the  me- 
ridian of  life.  His  grandfather,  Nathaniel  Tremain, 
died  recently  at  Pittsheld,  Mass.  He  was  a  revo- 
lutionary soldier,  and  contributed  his  share  in  pur- 
chasing American  freedom.  When  the  war  was 
37 


290  LYMAN    TREMAIN. 

over,  he  chose  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  the  soil  he  had 
helped  to  win,  in  following  the  peaceful  life  of  the 
husbandman,  for  the  remainder  of  his  days.  He 
was  distinguished  alike  for  his  sterling  integrity,  and 
a  fair  degree  of  the  intelligence  which  has  descend- 
ed in  so  large  a  measure  to  the  third  generation. 

The  only  means  of  education  enjoyed  by  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch,  was  in  the  common  and  select 
schools  of  his  native  town,  and  at  Kinderhook  acad- 
emy— his  name  always  standing  the  highest.  At 
the  academy  he  took  the  lead  in  his  studies;  be- 
came well  acquainted  with  the  classics;  and  from 
here  we  may  trace  him  as  a  speaker;  a  capacity  in 
which  he  is  more  particularly  distinguished.  He 
has  a  voice  of  great  compass  and  richness,  combined 
with  a  good  articulation.*  At  the  very  early  age  of 
fourteen,  he  delivered  an  original  speech  at  the  semi- 
annual exhibition  at  Kinderhook,  which  was  loudly 
applauded  by  the  audience,  entirely  contrary  to  the 
rules  of  the  principal,  and  called  from  him  a  request 
that  it  should  not  be  repeated. 

*  This,  when  addressing  large  audiences,  enables  him  to  be  heard 
at  a  great  distance.  "It  is  a  curious  fact  in  the  history  of  sound,  that  the 
loudest  noises  always  perish  on  the  spot  where  they  are  produced, 
Avhereas  musical  notes  will  he  heard  at  a  great  distance.  Thus,  if  we 
approach  within  a  mile  or  two  of  a  town  or  village  in  which  a  fair  is  held, 
we  may  hear  very  faintly  the  clamor  of  the  multitude,  but  more  distinctly 
the  organs  and  other  musical  instruments  which  are  played  for  their 
amusement.  If  a  Cremona  violin,  a  real  Aniati,  be  played  by  the  side  of 
a  modern  fiddle,  tiie  latter  will  sound  much  the  louder  of  the  two;  but 
the  sweet,  brilliant  tone  of  the  Amati,  will  be  heard  at  a  distance  the 
other  can  not  reach.  Dr.  Young,  on  the  authority  of  Derham,  states  that 
at  Gibraltar,  the  human  voice  may  be  heard  at  a  greater  distance  than 
that  of  any  other  animal.  Thus,  when  the  cottager  in  the  woods,  or  in 
the  open  plain,  wishes  to  call  her  husband,  who  is  working  at  a  distance, 
she  does  not  shout,  but  pitches  her  voice  to  a  musical  key,  which  she 
knows  from  habit,  and  by  that  means  reaches  his  ear.  The  loudest  roar 
of  the  largest  lion  could  not  penetrate  so  far.  'This  property  of  music. 
in  the  human  voice,'  says  the  author,  'is  strikingly  shown  in  the  cathe- 
drals abroad.  Here  the  mass  is  entirely  performed  in  musical  sounds, 
and  becomes  audible  to  every  devotee,  however  placed  in  the  remotest 
part  of  the  church;  whereas,  if  the  same  mass  had  been  read,  the  sounds 
would  not  have  traveled  beyond  the  precincts  of  the  choir.'  Those  ora- 
tors who  are  heard  in  large  assemblies  most  distinctly,  and  at  the  great- 
est distance,  are  those  who,  by  modulating  the  voice,  render  it  more 
musical.     Loud  speakers  are  seldom  heard  to  advantage." 


LYMAN   TREMAIN.  291 

At  the  age  of  fifteen,  with  an  education  better  than 
many  graduates  possess,  he  entered  the  law  office 
of  John  O'Brien,  Esquire,  of  Durham,  as  a  student 
at  law.  Here,  while  pursuing  his  studies,  at  this 
early  age,  he  immediately  commenced  trying  causes 
iti  justices'  courts,  not  only  in  his  own  county,  but 
in  the  adjoining  counties  of  Schoharie,  Albany  and 
Delaware,  in  which  he  was  very  successful,  and  ac- 
quired great  skill  in  the  management  of  causes,  and 
there  became  intimately  acquainted  with  human 
nature.  At  these  trials,  crowds  always  flocked,  as 
they  said,  "to  hear  the  boy  plead  law."  During 
this  extensive  practice,  however,  in  the  inferior 
courts,  his  studies  were  by  no  means  neglected.  No 
student  attended  more  closely  to  them.  As  an 
evidence  of  which,  we  have  been  credibly  informed, 
that  during  his  clerkship  he  read  through,  out  of  the 
ordinary  course,  every  volume  of  Cowen  and  Wen- 
dell's Reports,  a  task  from  which  older  heads  might 
shrink  in  despair.* 

With  Mr.  O'Brien,  and  a  few  months  in  the  office 
of  Samuel  Sherwood,  Esquire,  an  eminent  lawyer 
in  New- York  city,  his  clerkship  was  passed;  and  at 
the  age  of  twenty-one  he  was  admitted  to  practice 
in  the  supreme  court  of  New- York.  His  fame  as  a 
lawyer  and  advocate  having  already  preceded  him, 
he  immediately  entered  upon  an  extensive  and  lu- 
crative practice  of  his  profession,  in  his  native  coun- 
ty, and  in  the  counties  adjoining,  which  practice 
has  been  steadily  increasing  ever  since. 

Early  in  life,  Judge  Tremain  embarked  on  the 
exciting  and  stormy  sea  of  politics;  and,  unlike 
many  others,  he  has  been  able  to  guide  his  bark  in 
safety,  amid  the  dangers,  seen  and  unseen,  peculiar 

*  Like  that  eminent  lawyer,  Sir  Edward  Stigden,  his  plan  of  study 
was  as  follows:  He  resolved,  when  beginning  to  read  law,  to  make 
every  thing  he  acquired  perfectly  his  own,  and  never  to  go  to  a  second 
thing  till  he  had  entirely  accomplished  the  first.  Many  of  his  competi- 
tors read  as  much  in  a  day  as  he  read  in  a  week ;  hut  at  the  end  of  twelve 
months  his  knowledge  was  as  fresh  as  the  day  it  was  acquired,  while 
theirs  had  glided  away  from  recollection. 


292  LYMAN   TREMAIN. 

to  that  troubled  ocean.  His  voice,  at  a  very  early 
age,  was  heard,  and  his  pen  known  and  felt,  in 
county  conventions,  and  contributed  in  no  small 
degree  to  the  advancement  of  the  principles  of  the 
democratic  party  in  his  county  and  state,  of  which 
he  has  always  been  a  warm  and  ardent  supporter. 
His  speeches,  resolutions  and  addresses,  at  that  early 
age,  evinced  a  knowledge  of  history,  of  public  and 
political  affairs,  and  a  maturity  of  judgment  and  in- 
tellect, but  rarely  surpassed  by  the  older  veterans  of 
his  party.  His  fame  in  this  department  becoming 
known,  his  voice  and  pen  were  often  called  by  his 
party,  as  years  rolled  on,  in  other  parts  of  the  state, 
as  well  as  in  his  own  county,  to  take  an  active  part 
in  the  various  political  contests  between  the  two 
dominant  parties  of  this  country. 

In  the  month  of  August,  1842,  Judge  Tremain 
was  married  to  the  amiable  and  excellent  lady  who 
is  his  present  wife,  in  the  town  of  Catskill;  a  com- 
panion in  every  respect  suitable  to  him,  and  who 
sympathises  with  and  lightens  his  cares  as  they  pass 
along  together  the  journey  of  life,  in  domestic  hap- 
piness and  tranquility. 

An  obliging  disposition  and  courteous  manner, 
added  to  the  talents  which  he  possessed,  had  so  far 
won  upon  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the  people, 
that  at  the  early  age  of  twenty-three  he  was  pre- 
sented by  the  democracy  of  his  native  town  for  the 
office  of  supervisor.  This  town  was  a  strong  whig 
town,  but  notwithstanding  this,  and  the  maxim 
universally  accredited  that,  "a  prophet  is  not  with- 
out honor  save  in  his  own  country,"  and  in  spite  of 
party  prejudice  and  feeling,  he  was  elected  by  a 
handsome  majority  over  a  strong  competitor,  who 
enjoyed  the  confidence  of  his  party. 

On  the  month  of  February,  1846,  Judge  Tremain 
was  unanimously  appointed  district  attorney  for  the 
county  of  Greene.  The  judges  were  at  that  time 
divided  by  the  divisions  which  distracted  the  demo- 


LYMAN   TREMAIN.  293 

cratic  party,  nevertheless  they  all  concurred  in  his 
appointment.  An  unusual  amount  of  important 
criminal  business  fell  to  his  lot  during  the  short 
term  in  which  he  held  the  office,  which  he  dis- 
charged with  that  energy  and  fidelity  so  character- 
istic of  him,  and  which  served  to  elevate  him  still 
higher  as  a  lawyer  and  a  man  in  the  estimation  of 
his  associates  at  the  bar,  and  the  people.  At  this 
time  his  large  and  extensive  civil  business  in  the 
courts  in  his  own  county  and  the  counties  adjoining 
he  suffered  not  to  flag  in  the  least,  but  carried  it 
through  those  several  courts  successfully  with  una- 
bated skill  and  energy. 

We  may  here  remark  what  has  often  been  noticed 
by  others  in  regard  to  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
that  in  whatever  situation  he  was  placed,  and  he 
has  been  in  many  sufficient  to  try  the  nerve  and 
intellect  of  the  strongest  in  his  profession,  he  has 
always  been  equal  to  the  occasion,  issuing  from  its 
sternest  conflicts,  seemingly  renewed  in  strength 
for  fresh  encounters. 

One  cause  of  Judge  Tremain's  success  in  life, 
among  others,  we  think  may  be  attributed  to  the 
rule  of  conduct,  which  he  seems  to  have  inflexibly 
laid  down  for  himself,  never  to  be  hurried  or  driven 
by  business,  but  on  the  contrary  rigidly  to  perform 
the  business  of  to-day  while  it  is  to-day.  In  no 
other  way  under  the  cares  and  pressure  of  business, 
do  we  perceive,  especially  at  his  early  age,  how  he 
could  preserve  the  equanimity  of  mind  and  temper 
which  he  in  so  remarkable  a  degree  possesses,  and 
find  time  to  dispense  the  many  little  courtesies  and 
kindnesses  among  his  neighbors  and  friends  which 
go  to  make  up  so  much  of  life.  He  also  finds  leisure 
moments,  those  odds  and  ends  of  time,  which  right- 
ly improved,  a  great  philosopher  has  said  constitute 
the  best  part  of  man's  existence,  not  only  to  store 
his  mind  with  that  knowledge  which  enables  him 
to  tread  the  higher  walks  of  his  profession,  but  to 


294  LYMAN    TREMAIN. 

study  and  become  familiar  with  the  copious  litera- 
ture of  our  language,  which  is  a  rich  legacy  to  all 
who  have  the  mind  and  the  will  to  enjoy  its  bless- 
ings. 

Having  received  the  regular  nomination  of  his 
party  in  the  spring  of  the  year  1847,  for  the  office  of 
county  judge  of  Greene  county,  he  was  elected  to 
that  office  in  the  judiciary  election  in  June  of  that 
year.  In  his  election  to  this  office,  which  also  em- 
braces the  office  of  surrogate,  he  had  two  competi- 
tors, one  whig  and  one  democrat,  both  popular  and 
leading  men  in  the  county,  and  both  residing  at  the 
county  seat,  which  gave  them  a  great  advantage. 
He  was  elected  notwithstanding,  by  a  handsome 
majority  over  both,  and  a  majority  over  the  regular 
opposition  candidate  of  twelve  hundred,  a  majority 
greater  than  was  ever  given  in  the  county  when 
the  democratic  party  was  united. 

The  orator  of  fourteen  years  of  age  now  stands 
before  us  as  Judge  Tremain  at  twenty-nine,  still 
distinguished  for  the  same  talents  which  then  called 
forth  such  admiration  and  applause,  but  expanded 
and  developed  in  maturer  years,  by  the  varied  toils 
and  scenes  and  conflicts  of  professional  and  political 
life  in  which  he  has  passed.  His  clear  discriminat- 
ing mind,  sound  judgment,  and  thorough  know- 
ledge of  the  law;  and  not  less,  his  amenity  of  man- 
ners, render  him  an  ornament  to  the  station  which 
he  occupies;  the  duties  of  which  he  discharges 
with  his  accustomed  energy  and  ability;  amid  the 
cares  and  responsibilities  of  a  large  and  increasing 
practice  in  the  higher  courts  of  the  state. 

We  can  not  dismiss  this  subject  without  remark- 
ing, that  Judge  Tremain  is  another  and  striking  in- 
stance of  the  influence  of  republican  institutions, 
in  elevating  the  moral,  intellectual,  and  physical 
condition  of  the  people,  and  assigning  to  genius 
and  talent  its  proper  station  and  reward.  Well 
may  the  American,   as  he  traverses  other  climes 


SIMEON  DRAPER,  SEN.  295 

and  countries,  and  witnesses  humanity  down-trod- 
den and  oppressed,  and  genius  and  talent  of  little 
use  in  elevating  its  possessor,  without  the  sordid 
appliances  of  over-grown  wealth  and  power,  ex- 
claim, with  a  depth  of  feeling  such  as  the  inhabit- 
ants of  no  other  country  possesses,  "  This  is  my 
own,  my  native  land." 


SIMEON  DRAPER,  SEN. 

"Howe'er  it  be,  it  seems  to  me, 

'Tis  only  noble  to  be  good ; 
Kind  hearts  are  more  than  coronets, 

And  simple  faith  than  Norman  blood." 

tN  the  28th  of  December,  1848,  the  vene- 
rable Simeon  Draper,  of  Brookfield,  after 
sojourning  on  earth  for  eighty-four  years, 
^entered  upon  his  immortal  existence. 
J0  He  belonged  to  that  class  of  men  who  are 
scattered  all  over  New  England,  whose  purity  of 
character,  integrity  of  purpose,  and  similarity  of  man- 
ners, are  only  equalled  by  their  manly  sense  and 
soundness  of  judgment. 

With  a  heart  glowing  with  patriotism,  Mr.  Draper 
when  quite  a  youth,  entered  the  continental  army 
and  was  a  brave  soldier  of  the  revolution. 

He  was  a  member  of  the  convention  of  1820,  to 
amend  the  constitution  of  Massachusetts,  and  he 
served  in  the  legislature  of  that  state  for  more  than 
thirty  years.  While  in  that  body  he  was  an  ardent 
supporter  of  the  cause  of  education.  He  knew  that 
in  the  school-house  lie  the  seeds  of  the  true  great- 
ness of  any  country.  And  what  have  not  these 
school-houses  done  for  New  England  ?  They  are 
her  pride,  her  bulwark  and  her  strength.  By  their 
power,  her  rough  hills  have   been  smoothed,   and 


296  SIMEON   DRAPER,    SEN. 

their  craggy  sides  been  made  to  yield  abundant  har- 
vests: through  their  influence  the  whole  land  has 
been  cultivated  and  every  acre  rendered  productive; 
by  their  aid  towns  and  villages  have  sprung  up,  and 
thrived;  and  farm  houses,  neat  and  beautiful,  beto- 
kening quiet,  ease  and  happiness,  are  spread  on 
every  hill  and  in  every  vale.  By  them  New  Eng- 
land has  become  the  leader  in  every  good  work; 
has  been  able  to  send  her  emigrants  throughout  the 
country,  to  exert  a  high  moral  influence  in  improv- 
ing its  character;  the  wisest  of  statesmen  and  the 
most  powerful  orators  into  the  congress  of  the  na- 
tion. Through  the  influence  of  these  she  has 
brought  forward  a  population,  famed  wherever  they 
are  known  as  a  body,  for  their  industry,  virtue  and 
intelligence.  Let  them  then  be  multiplied  a  hun- 
dred fold, — 

Through  all  her  wild,  green  mountains; 

From  valleys  where  her  slumbering  fathers  lie, 
From  her  blue  rivers  and  her  swelling  fountains, 
And  clear,  cold  sky ; 

From  her  rough  coast  and  isles,  where  hungry  ocean 

Groans  with  his  surges — from  the  fisher's  skiff, 
With  white  sail  swaying  to  the  billow's  motion 
Round  rock  and  cliff. 

Mr.  Draper,  like  almost  every  other  man  of  worth, 
was  an  early  riser.  Happy  the  man  who  is.  Every 
morning,  day  comes  to  him  with  a  virgin's  love, 
full  of  bloom  and  purity  and  freshness.  The  youth 
of  nature  is  contagious  like  the  gladness  of  a  hap- 
py child. 

He  lived  respected  by  all  who  knew  him,  and 
when  he  died  his  townsmen  came  up  in  a  body  to 
his  funeral — a  spontaneous  offering  of  their  respect 
and  love  to  the  virtues  and  memory  of  the  deceased. 

Mr.  Draper  has  left  behind  him  a  good  name,  and 
numerous  descendants.  One  of  his  sons  was  ap- 
pointed consul  at  Paris,  by  General  Harrison.  An- 
other of  his  sons,  Mr.  Simeon  Draper,  Jr.,  is  one  of 
the  first  merchants  in  New  York  city.     Although 


SIMEON   DRAPER,    SEN.  297 

the  deceased  moved,  while  living,  in  a  compara- 
tively narrow  sphere  of  action,  yet  he  was  of  that 
noble  class  of  men  to  whom  New  England  owes  her 
character  for  integrity,  intelligence,  industry,  mo- 
rality and  religion. 

His  career  was  a  beautiful  illustration  of  the  re- 
mark, that  the  secret  of  success  in   any  pursuit,  is 
in  that  unconquerable  perseverance  that  is  roused 
to  greater  efforts  from  the  magnitude  of  the  resist- 
ance ;  and  overcomes,  by  assiduous  pertinacity,  that 
which  can  not  be  subdued  by  a  single  effort.     In 
our  country,  where  a  thousand  paths  lie   open  in 
which  fame  and  wealth  may  be  obtained,  we  are  in 
danger  of  forgetting,  that  after  all,  life  may  be  fret- 
ted   away   in    futile   attempts    and    ill-conceived 
enterprises.     Singleness  of   purpose   and  ardor   of 
application  are  necessary  to  the  complete  success 
of  any  cause ;  and  neither  talent  nor  genius  can  win 
its  proper  meed  unless  guided  and  controlled    by 
them.     In  language  which  it  may  not  be  irreverent 
here  to  quote,  the  race  is  not  always  to  the  swift 
nor  the  battle  to  the  strong ;  but  the  powerful  mind, 
endowed  with  the  mightiest  gifts  of  its  Creator,  if 
it  turns  aside  to  pluck  flowers  by  the  way,  or  seek 
a   path  of   less    sinuous   direction    and  smoother 
surface,  may,  like  Atalanta,   be  surpassed  by   the 
regular,  though  slower  advances  of  diligent  competi- 
tors.    In  the  fierce  conflict  of  life  we  have  no  time 
to  lose  in  returning  for  a  new  start;  and  if  our  path 
is  crowded  with  dangers  and  difficulties,  we  must 
overcome  them  by  the  indomitable  sway  of  a  deter- 
mined will. 


38 


298  JONATHAN    PLATT. 


JONATHAN  PLATT. 


*HO   are  the   lower   classes?     The  toiling 
millions,   the  laboring  man  and  woman, 
the  farmer,  the  mechanic,  the  artisan,  the 
'inventor,  the  producer?     Far  from  it.     These  . 
.  are  nature's  nobility.     No  matter  whether  they 
are  high  or  low  in  station,  rich  or  poor  in  pelf,  con- 
spicuous or  humble  in  position,  they  are  surely  the 
"upper  circles  in  the  order  of  nature,"  whatever 
the  fictitious  distinction  of  society,  fashionable  or 
unfashionable,  decree.     It  is  not  low,  it  is  the  high- 
est duty,   privilege  or  pleasure,  for  the  great  man 
and  whole-souled  women  to  earn  what  they  possess, 
to  work  their  own  way  through  life,  to  be  the  arch- 
itects of  their  own  fortunes.     Some  may  rank  the 
classes  we  have  alluded  to  as  only  relatively  low, 
and,  in  fact,  the  middling  classes.     We  insist  they 
are  absolutely  the  very  highest.     If  there  be  a  class 
of  human  beings   on  earth  who  may  be  properly 
denominated  low,  it  is  that  class  who  spend  without 
earning,   who    consume   without    producing,   who 
dissipate  on  the  earnings  of  their  fathers  or  relatives 
without  being  any  thing  in  and  of  themselves. 

The  highly  respected  individual,  the  subject  of 
this  notice, was  born  at  Bedford, Westchester  county, 
New  York,  on  the  1 3th  of  October,  1783. 

In  the  year  1793  his  father's  family  emigrated  to 
the  then  "  far  west,"  and  settled  upon  the  Susque- 
hanna river,  in  the  present  town  of  Nichols,  and 
county  of  Tioga,  the  whole  region  being  then  a 
wilderness. 

Jonathan  was  the  oldest  member  of  the  family, 
and  was  subject  to  many  of  the  trials  and  hardships 
incident  to  new  settlements,  which  was  probably 
the  means  of  invigorating  him  for  the  toils  and 
hardships  of  subsequent  life.     His  early  years  hav- 


JACOB    COLLAMER.  299 

ing  been  employed  in  clearing  the  land,  at  the  age 
of  twenty-three  he  commenced  a  clerkship  in  a 
store  at  Owego,  New  York.  A  few  years  afterwards 
he  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  in  the  same 
place.  This  occupation  he  pursued  for  many  years, 
connecting  with  it  trade  in  lumber  and  plaster  on 
the  Susquehanna  river. 

Mr.  Piatt  was  one  of  the  first  directors  of  the 
Owego  bank,  and  was  afterwards  president  of  that 
institution.  This  office  he  held  until  two  or  three 
years  ago,whenhe  disposed  of  his  stock,  and  retired 
from  the  concerns  of  the  bank  to  a  most  delightful 
residence  in  the  vicinity  of  the  village,  where  he  is 
now,  in  the  enjoyment  of  a  happy  competence  and 
justly  respected,  passing  the  evening  of  his  life. 

Brought  up  among  the  stern  features  of  the  wild- 
erness, and  from  his  earliest  days  having  been  in- 
ured to  toil,  Mr.  Piatt  never  enjoyed  the  advantages 
of  what  is  called  a  liberal  education.  But  he  pos- 
sesses that  which  in  the  career  of  life  is  of  far  more 
importance,  namely,  common  sense  and  an  enlight 
ened  public  spirit,  being  also  in  the  full  sense  of  the 
word  an  "honest  man." 


JACOB  COLLAMER,. 

HE  subject  of  this  sketch  had  none  of  the 
early  advantages  which  parents,  mistake- 
enly  perhaps,  are  usually  so  solicitous  to 
secure  for  their  children,  and  owes  nothing  to 
adventitious  circumstances  of  birth  or  fortune ; 
though,  if  ancestral  virtue  is  a  just  cause  of 
pride,  there  are  few  who  can  boast  a  nobler  escutch- 
eon, for  his  propositus  was  one  of  the  old  Puritan 
stock,  Avho  preferred  religious  liberty  in  the  wilder- 
ness to  enforced   conformity  in  a  palace.     Judge 


300  JACOB    COLLAMER. 

Collamer  was  born  at  Troy,  New  York,  and  is  a  son 
of  Samuel  Collamer,  a  native  of  Scituate,  in  Mas- 
sachusetts, and  a  soldier  of  the  revolution.  In  his 
childhood  he  removed  with  his  father's  family  to 
Burlington,  Vermont,  and  was  graduated  at  the 
university,  then  at  an  early  age,  in  1810.  He  im- 
mediately commenced  the  study  of  the  law,  made 
the  frontier  campaign  of  1812  as  a  lieutenant  of 
artillery  in  the  detached  militia  in  the  service  of 
the  United  States,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1813,  having  accomplished  his  course  of  preparatory, 
collegiate  and  professional  study,  without  any  other 
pecuniary  means  than  such  as  his  own  industry 
supplied  him.  From  the  time  of  his  admission  to 
the  bar  until  the  year  1833,  he  practised  his  profes- 
sion in  the  counties  of  Orange  and  Windsor  with 
marked  ability  and  success,  under  all  the  disadvan- 
tages of  a  competition  with  the  eminent  counsel 
by  which  the  bar  of  those  counties  was  then  dis- 
tinguished. In  the  last  named  year  (having  in  the 
meantime  been  often  an  active  and  influential 
member  of  the  legislature  of  Vermont)  he  was, 
without  solicitation  or  expectation  on  his  part, 
elected  an  associate  justice  of  the  supreme  court, 
and  was  continued  upon  the  bench,  discharging  his 
judicial  duties  with  much  credit,  and  to  the  general 
satisfaction  of  the  profession,  until  the  year  1842, 
when  he  declined  a  reelection.  In  1843,  he  was 
elected  to  represent  the  second  congressional  dis- 
trict of  Vermont  in  the  congress  of  the  United 
States,  was  reelected  in  1844  and  1846,  and  in  1848, 
much  to  the  regret  of  his  constituents,  upon  whom 
the  eminent  ability  of  his  congressional  career  had 
reflected  so  great  credit,  he  declined  to  be  again  a 
candidate. 

In  March,  1849,  he  was  nominated  by  President 
Taylor  as  postmaster-general,  which  office  he  now 
holds. 


CHARLES   MARSH.  301 

As  his  parents  were  poor,  he  found  it  extremely 
difficult  to  raise  funds  to  pay  his  expenses  at  college. 
He  was  reproved  by  the  president  one  day  for  ap- 
pearing in  the  recitation  room  without  shoes.  He 
procured  a  pair,  and  for  the  sake  of  economy  carried 
them  to  the  door  of  the  recitation  room,  and  then 
put  them  on.  Such  were  some  of  the  difficulties 
in  the  way  of  education  thirty-five  years  ago. 


CHARLES  MARSH. 

|rE  was  born  at  Lebanon,  Connecticut,  the 
§  10th  of  July,  1765,  but  removed  with  his 
^iWM,  father's  family  to  Vermont,  before  the  com- 
$  mencement  of  the  revolutionary  war.  His 
^father,  Honorable  Joseph  Marsh,  was  one  of  the 
leading  whig  gentlemen  of  Vermont  during  that 
struggle,  and  was  for  several  years  lieutenant  go- 
vernor of  the  state.  Charles  Marsh  was  graduated 
at  Dartmouth  college,  in  1786,  and  studied  the  law 
under  the  venerable  Judge  Reeve,  of  Connecticut, 
and  commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession  at 
Woodstock,  Vt.,  in  1788.  He  was  an  active,  studi- 
ous, and  successful  lawyer  for  the  full  period  of  fifty 
years,  and,  during  a  large  part  of  that  time,  it  may 
justly  be  said,  he  was  regarded  as  standing  at  the 
head  of  the  bar  in  the  state.  It  is  not,  however,  so 
much  to  his  professional  position  we  desire  to  direct 
attention,  but  to  the  position  he  has  long  occupied 
as  a  distinguished  patron  of  all  the  great  benevolent 
enterprises  of  the  day,  and  the  liberality  of  his  be- 
nefactions to  those  objects.  The  board  of  commis- 
sioners for  foreign  missions,  the  American  Bible  so- 
ciety, the  American  Colonization  society  have  long 
known  him  as  among  their  most  efficient,  devoted, 
and  liberal  members;  and  these  and  kindred  asso- 


302  CHARLES    MARSH. 

ciations  commanded  his  prayers  and  support  during 
his  life. 

Running  parallel  to  this  was  his  devotion  to  the 
cause  and  progress  of  liberal  science.  He  was  a 
member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  Dartmouth 
college  for  forty  years,  and  therein  was  particularly 
efficient  and  influential  in  the  memorable  contro- 
versy of  that  institution  with  the  legislature  of  New 
Hampshire,  and  in  which  the  independence  and  in- 
tegrity of  the  college  was  ably  and  successfully  vin- 
dicated, to  the  permanent  good  of  sound  learning 
in  the  land. 

Mr.  Marsh  was  ever  disinclined  to  holding  any 
official  position,  but  his  association  with  those  men 
of  high  public  character  in  New  England,  who  link 
the  revolutionary  epoch  with  the  present  generation, 
was  intimate  and  influential,  and  his  memory  is 
identified  with  theirs.  He  was  induced  to  serve 
one  term  in  congress,  and,  while  there,  he  was  as- 
sociated with  Judge  Marshall  and  Washington, 
with  Henry  Clay,  and  others,  in  the  first  formation 
of  the  American  Colonization  society. 

Mr.  Marsh  was  appointed  district  attorney  of  Ver- 
mont by  General  Washington,  and  held  that  office 
until  the  accession  of  Jefferson. 

In  his  social  and  Christian  relations  in  private 
life,  few  men  have  commanded  so  large  a  share  of 
attachment  and  respect,  or  exercised  power,  influ- 
ence, or  example  to  more  wholsome  effect.  His 
house  was  ever  the  home  of  the  most  generous 
hospitality.  Having  lived  the  life  of  a  Christian, 
gentleman,  philanthropist,  and  patriot,  worthy  of 
the  good  puritan  stock  from  which  he  sprung,  and 
having  filled  as  well  the  measure  of  his  usefulness 
as  of  his  days,  he  is  now  gathered  to  his  fathers  "in 
a  full  age,  like  as  a  shock  of  corn  cometh  in  its 
season." 

He  died  at  Woodstock,  Vermont,  on  the  11th  of 
January,  1849,  aged  eighty-three  years. 


CHARLES   MARSH.  303 

In  reviewing  the  life  of  this  great  and  good  man, 
we  are  forcibly  struck  with  the  truth  of  the  follow- 
ing elegant  remark  by  Webster: 

"  Political  eminence  and  professional  fame,  fade 
away  and  die  with  all  things  earthly.  Nothing  of 
character  is  really  permanent,  but  virtue  and  per- 
sonal worth.  They  remain.  Whatever  of  excellence 
is  wrought  into  the  soul  itself,  belongs  to  both 
worlds.  Real  goodness  does  not  attach  itself  merely 
to  this  life,  it  points  to  another  world.  Political  or 
professional  fame  can  not  last  forever,  but  a  con- 
science void  of  offence  before  God  and  man,  is  an 
inheritance  for  eternity.  Religion,  therefore,  is  a 
necessary,  an  indispensable  element  in  any  great 
human  character.  There  is  no  living  without  it. 
Religion  is  the  tie  that  connects  man  with  his  Crea- 
tor, and  holds  him  to  his  throne.  If  that  tie  be  all 
sundered,  all  broken,  he  floats  away,  a  worthless 
atom  in  the  universe,  its  proper  attractions  all  gone, 
its  destiny  thwarted,  and  its  whole  future  nothing 
bat  darkness,  desolation  and  death.  A  man  with 
no  sense  of  religious  duty  is  he  whom  the  scriptures 
describe — in  such  terse,  but  terrific  manner — as 
"living  without  God  in  the  world."  Such  a  man 
is  out  of  his  proper  being,  out  of  the  circle  of  all 
his  duties,  out  of  the  circle  of  all  his  happiness,  and 
away,  far,  far  away  from  the  purposes  of  his  crea- 
tion." 

The  widow  of  Mr.  Marsh  and  four  of  his  seven 
children  survive  him.  Among  them  is  the  greatly 
respected  Hon.  George  P.  Marsh,  representative  to 
congress  from  Vermont. 


304  PATRICK   W.    TOMPKINS. 


PATRICK  W.  TOMPKINS. 

BOUT  forty  years  ago,  somewhere  in 
the  woods  near  the  line  between  Ten- 
nessee and  Kentucky,  in  a  log  cabin 
sixteen  feet  by  eighteen,  which  was 
already  occupied  by  a  brood  of  ten  or 
twelve  children,  was  born  a  youngster,  the 
hero  of  our  sketch.  In  his  infancy,  he  was 
fed  on  hog  and  hominy,  and  the  flesh  of  such 
"wild  varmints"  as  were  caught  in  the  woods.  At 
twelve  years  of  age,  he  was  put  out  to  work  with  a 
neighbor  as  a  farm  boy,  and  drove  oxen,  hoed  corn, 
raised  tobacco  in  summer,  cured  it  and  prized  it  in 
winter,  till  he  was  seventeen  years  old,  when  he 
took  to  making  brick;  to  which  he  added  the  pro- 
fession of  a  carpenter ;  and  by  these  successive  steps 
in  mechanical  arts,  he  became  able,  by  his  own 
unassisted  skill,  to  rear  a  house  from  the  clay  pit  or 
from  the  stump,  and  complete  it  in  all  its  parts,  and 
to  do  it,  too,  in  a  manner  that  none  of  his  competi- 
tors could  surpass.  His  panel  doors  are  to  this  day 
the  wonder  and  admiration  of  all  the  country,  in 
which  they  continue  to  swing  on  their  hinges.  He 
never  saw  the  inside  of  a  school-house  or  church 
till  after  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  By  the  assist- 
ance of  an  old  man  in  the  neighborhood,  he  learned, 
during  the  winter  evenings,  to  read  and  write,  while 
a  farm  boy.  Having  achieved  these  valuable  ac- 
quisitions by  the  aid  of  another,  all  his  other  educa- 
tion has  been  the  fruit  of  his  own  application  and 
perseverance.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  fitting  himself  for  the  practice  of 
the  law.  He  at  first  procured  an  old  copy  of  Black- 
stone,  and  having,  after  the  close  of  his  daily  labors, 
by  nightly  studies  in  his  log  cabin,  mastered  the 
contents  of  that  compendium  of  common  law,  he 


ULYSSES   WARD.  305 

pursued  his  researches  into  other  elementary  works. 
And  having  thus,  by  great  diligence,  acquired  the 
rudiments  of  his  profession,  he  met  with  an  old 
lawyer  who  had  quit  practice,  or  whose  practice 
had  quit  him,  with  whom  he  made  a  bargain  for 
his  scanty  library,  for  which  he  was  to  pay  him 
$129  in  carpenter's  work;  and  the  chief  part  of  the 
job  to  be  done  in  payment  for  these  old  musty 
books,  was  dressing  and  laying  down  an  old  oaken 
floor  and  doors,  at  $3  per  square  of  ten  feet.  The 
library  paid  for,  our  hero  dropped  the  adze,  plane 
and  trowel,  and  we  soon  after  hear  of  him  as 
one  of  the  most  prominent  members  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi bar,  and  a  noble  statesman  and  orator. 
"  I  heard  him  one  day,"  says  one,  "  make  two 
speeches  in  succession,  of  three  hours  in  length 
each,  to  the  same  audience ;  and  not  a  movement 
testified  any  weariness  on  the  part  of  a  single  audi- 
tor, and  during  their  delivery  the  assembly  seemed 
swayed  by  the  orator  as  reeds  by  the  wind." 

The  poor  farm  boy  is  at  the  present  time  a 
member  of  congress,  from  Mississippi.  His  name 
is  Patrick  W.  Tompkins.  He  is  a  self-made  man, 
and  his  history  shows  what  a  humble  boy  can  do, 
when  he  determines  to  try. 


ULYSSES  WARD. 


MORE  worthy  man  than  Mr.  Ward  is  sel- 
^  dom  found.  He  was  born  in  Montgomery 
county,  in  the  state  of  Maryland,  on  the 
third  day  of  April,  1792.  His  parents  were 
natives  of  London,  England,  from  which  place 
they  removed  to  this  country  about  the  year 
1770. 

39 


306  ULYSSES    WARD. 

Although  deprived  of  the  usual  advantages  for 
obtaining  a  liberal  education,  even  in  the  elementary 
branches — having  had  but  five  months'  schooling 
altogether — Mr.  Ward  was  early  impressed  with  the 
necessity  and  importance  of  acquiring  such  know- 
ledge as  would  qualify  him  for  usefulness  in  society; 
and  therefore  earnestly  applied  himself  in  endea- 
voring to  derive,  so  far  as  possible,  from  experience 
and  observation,  that  information  which  the  more 
highly  favored  in  point  of  privileges,  gained  from 
books.  Sensible,  as  he  ever  was,  of  the  peculiar 
embarrassment  caused  by  the  recollection  of  his 
destitution  of  early  scholastic  training,  he  did  not 
surfer  it  to  discourage  him;  on  the  contrary,  this 
reflection  seemed  to  increase  his  ardor,  and  to  in- 
duce him  to  use  the  more  diligently  those  talents 
which  his  Creator  had  bestowed  upon  him.  "  Out- 
ward matter  or  event  fashioneth  not  the  character 
within,  but  each  man,  yielding,  or  resisting,  fash- 
ioneth his  mind  for  himself."  Thus,  by  perseve- 
rance and  industry,  the  difficulties  which  surround- 
ed Mr.  Ward  were  to  a  considerable  extent  over- 
come ;  and  when  his  boyhood  had  passed,  he  was 
tolerably  well  prepared  for  the  duties  subsequently 
devolving  upon  him. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen,  he  entered  upon  his  ap- 
prenticeship with  a  bricklayer  of  Georgetown,  D.  C, 
and  at  the  expiration  of  his  twenty-second  year, 
having  served  his  master  faithfully,  and  attained 
remarkable  proficiency  in  his  business,  he  went  forth 
inspired  with  the  noble  and  delightful  consciousness 
that,  if  blessed  with  continued  health  and  strength, 
he  would  not  only  be  able  to  procure  a  livelihood 
for  himself,  but  also  to  acquire  the  means  of  in- 
creased usefulness  in  the  world.  He  had  not  learn- 
ed to  regard  labor  as  dishonorable,  but  rather  to 
look  upon  it  as  the  ladder  by  which  he  must  rise. 
Nor  was  he  disappointed.  Deprived  as  he  had  been 
of  school  advantages,  a  good  trade — valuable   to 


ULYSSES   WARD.  307 

every  young  man — was  doubly  so  to  him ;  and  by 
steadily  following  it,  he  very  soon  found  resources 
for  supplying  himself  with  books  and  other  facili- 
ties for  learning,  which  he  could  not  obtain  when  a 
boy.  These  new  opportunities  he  improved  assidu- 
ously, and  in  a  few  years  became  a  good  English 
scholar.  How  striking  an  example  of  one  of  his 
own  favorite  maxims — "Perseverance  will  remove 
mountains !" 

A  few  months  before  he  completed  his  term  of 
service  as  an  apprentice,  Mr.  Ward  was  seriously 
impressed  with  a  sense  of  his  accountability  to  Him 
"in  whom  we  live,  and  move,  and  have  our  being," 
and  felt  his  obligations  particularly  in  view  of  the 
kind  care  and  superintending  providence  which  had 
been  over  him  and  conducted  him  so  safely  along 
"the  slippery  paths"  of  his  youth.  Often  has  he 
been  heard  to  repeat  with  much  emotion  those  beau- 
tiful lines  of  Addison,  so  expressive  of  gratitude  to 
the  Supreme  Being: 

"  When  all  thy  mercies,  O  my  God, 

My  rising  soul  surveys, 
Transported  with  the  view,  I'm  lost 

In  wonder,  love  and  praise !" 

Cherishing  his  religious  impressions,  he  at  length 
resolved  to  devote  the  remnant  of  his  days  to  the 
service  of  his  heavenly  Father;  and  accordingly, 
after  carefully  examining  and  cordially  embracing 
the  Christian  faith,  he  united  with  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  church,  in  whose  communion  he  remain- 
ed about  six  years. 

Mr.  Ward  was  married  on  the  twenty-sixth  day 
of  September,  1816,  to  Miss  Susan  Valinda  Beall, 
daughter  of  James  Beall,  Esq.,  of  Prince  George's 
county,  Md.,  and  with  her  he  has  lived  in  perfect 
peace  and  comfort  for  nearly  thirty-three  years.  The 
children  of  these  parents  are  seven  in  number,  and 
six  of  them  are  now  living.  The  eldest  daughter  is 
now  the  wife  of  Dr.  Thomas  Feinour,  of  Baltimore, 


308  ULYSSES    WARD. 

Md.  The  eldest  son,  Rev.  James  Thomas  Ward, 
entered  the  sacred  office  of  the  ministry  in  the  nine- 
teenth year  of  his  age,  and  after  serving  several  con- 
gregations in  Maryland  and  Virginia,  for  about  six 
years,  was  invited  to  take  charge  of  the  First  Meth- 
odist Protestant  church,  Philadelphia,  formerly 
served  by  Rev.  T.  H.  Stockton.  He  accepted  the 
invitation,  and  was  regularly  appointed  to  the  said 
church,  of  which  he  has  now  been  pastor  nearly 
two  years.  The  second  daughter  of  Mr.  Ward  is 
the  wife  of  Rev.  Samuel  Norment,  of  Virginia,  now 
residing  in  Washington.  The  other  children  are 
yet  in  their  minority. 

In  1820,  Mr.  Ward  united  with  the  Methodist 
Church,  and  has  remained  in  that  connection  to  the 
present  time.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  the  gos- 
pel in  1824,  ordained  deacon  in  1828,  and  elder  in 
1S32.  As  a  preacher,  his  style  is  plain,  his  manner 
earnest  and  affectionate,  and  he  is  generally  well 
received  by  his  congregations,  and  has  clone  much 
good  in  the  pulpit.  We  doubt  not  that  there  are 
hundreds  now  living,  besides  many  whose  spirits 
have  departed  from  earth,  who  could  bear  testimony 
to  the  religious  benefit  they  had  derived  through 
his  humble,  but  sincere,  impressive  and  useful  dis- 
courses, and  other  labors  connected  with  his  minis- 
terial calling. 

While  prosecuting  his  trade,  during  many  years, 
and  on  a  very  extensive  scale,  and  having  a  large 
number  of  workmen  in  his  employ,  Mr.  AVard  first 
exhibited  his  decided  favor  for  the  temperance 
cause,  by  rigidly  excluding  the  use  of  all  intoxicat- 
ing liquors  as  a  beverage  from  his  buildings.  No 
one,  therefore,  who  "loved  his  cups"  could  find  any 
countenance  under  Mr.  Ward's  employ;  and  it  is 
believed  that,  operating  extensively  as  he  was,  his 
example  had  a  salutary  influence  not  only  upon  in- 
dividuals, but  also  upon  the  community ;  for,  at  that 
time,  his  course  was  a  singular  one,  it  being  looked 


ULYSSES    WARD.  309 

upon  as  a  small  matter  to  "take  a  glass  or  so,  now 
and  then."  But  Mr.  Ward  was  convinced  of  the 
propriety  of  his  action  in  this  respect,  and  he  fear- 
lessly proceeded,  and  steadily  continued  his  prohi- 
bition of  ardent  spirits,  so  long  as  he  remained  in 
business. 

In  1830,  he  became  a  public  temperance  speaker, 
and  advocated  the  total  abstinence  principle,  by 
presenting  able  arguments  in  its  favor,  and  striking 
facts  to  illustrate  those  arguments.  Perceiving  with 
painful  emotions  the  fearful  desolation  caused,  as 
he  believed,  to  a  considerable  extent,  by  the  use  of 
ardent  spirits  as  a  beverage,  among  residents  and 
visiters  of  the  metropolis  of  our  Union,  and  feeling 
the  importance  of  a  decided  concert  of  action  upon 
the  part  of  the  friends  of  the  temperance  cause  in  a 
city  whence  a  most  powerful  influence  must  go 
forth  to  all  portions  of  the  country,  he  exerted  him- 
self strenuously  in  cooperation  with  said  friends,  in 
endeavoring  to  arrest  and  check  the  growing  evil. 
During  this  period,  there  was  a  "waking  up"  upon 
this  subject  all  over  the  land,  and  we  know  what 
was  accomplished.  A  reformation,  which  will  be 
remembered  and  felt  for  centuries,  took  place ;  one, 
which,  though  not  even  yet  entirely  completed,  is 
destined  to  go  on,  and  on, 

"  Until  the  drunkard's  voice  is  heard 
O'er  this  wide  earth  no  more." 

In  1845,  Mr.  Ward  established  at  the  seat  of  gov- 
ernment, a  periodical  newspaper,  called  the  Co- 
lumbian Fountain,  which  he  continued  to  publish 
and  to  edit,  assisted  a  part  of  the  time  by  his  eldest 
son,  Rev.  J.  T.  Ward,  for  nearly  two  years.  In  the 
columns  of  this  journal  he  fearlessly  and  boldly, 
though  calmly  and  respectfully,  exposed  the  evils 
growing  out  of  the  manufacture,  traffic  and  use  of 
intoxicating  beverages.  He  enjoyed  the  hearty  ap- 
proval of  the  friends  of  the  cause  throughout  the 
Union,  and  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  numerous 


310    '  ULYSSES   WARD. 

testimonials  of  the  usefulness  of  his  paper.  It  was 
through  his  instrumentality,  while  conducting  this 
journal,  that  the  establishments  for  the  sale  of  ardent 
spirits  in  the  basement  of  the  United  States  Capitol 
were  prohibited  from  continuing  the  traffic  there. 

Mr.  Ward's  remarkable  industry,  his  steady  ap- 
plication to  business,  his  unswerving  integrity  of 
purpose,  and  prompt  performance  of  duty,  together 
with  his  indomitable  perseverance  and  energy  of 
character,  have  been  generally  observed  by  those 
who  know  him ;  and  Providence  has  not  only  bless- 
ed him  in  the  respects  already  named,  but  also  re- 
warded his  diligence  with  success,  in  accumulating 
an  ample  competency  for  his  own  support,  besides 
placing  it  in  his  power,  during  the  course  of  his  life, 
to  render  aid  to  almost  every  religious  and  benevo- 
lent enterprise  around  him.  The  exact  amount  of 
his  contributions  to  various  Christian  churches,  and 
to  the  cause  of  humanity  and  common  purposes  of 
benevolence,  is  unknown  to  us,  but  we  have  know- 
ledge of  thousands  of  dollars  which  he  has  freely 
given,  while  we  are  assured  of  his  continued  wil- 
lingness thus  to  bestow  according  to  his  ability,  so 
long  as  he  lives. 

Being  a  self-made  man,  Mr.  Ward  has  ever  been 
the  firm  friend  of  the  honest  youth,  struggling  to 
rise  by  industry  and  perseverance;  and  not  a  few 
are  they  who  have  been  the  recipients  of  his  liber- 
ality, in  this,  and  in  other  respects.  Too  much  can 
not  be  said  in  favor  of  one  who  has  thus  come  up, 
by  his  own  exertions  under  God's  blessing — come 
up  to  an  enviable  position — a  position  of  true  great- 
ness— an  eminence  upon  which  he  stands  and  scat- 
ters blessings  to  aid  those  who  are  starting  up  from 
the  same  vale,  to  reach,  by  the  same  steps,  the  same 
honorable  height! 

"  Honor  and  shame  from  no  condition  rise ; 
Act  well  thy  part,  there  all  the  honor  lies!" 

Never  was  there  a  man  in  whose  history  this 


ALFRED    B.    STREET.  311 

couplet  was  more  happily  illustrated,  than  in  that 
of  the  Rev.  Ulysses  Ward,  of  Washington  city. 
Long  may  he  be  preserved  to  honor  and  bless  his 
race. 


ALFRED  B.  STREET. 

•OETRY,  what  is  it?  A  smile,  a  tear,  a 
glory,  a  longing  after  the  things  of  eter- 
nity !  It  lives  in  created  existence,  in  man 
and  every  object  that  surrounds  him.  There  is 
poetry  in  the  gentle  influence  of  love  and  affec- 
tion, in  the  quiet  brooding  of  the  soul  over  the 
memory  of  early  years,  and  in  the  thoughts  of  that 
glory  that  chains  our  spirits  to  the  gates  of  paradise. 
There  is  poetry,  too  in  the  harmonies  of  nature.  It 
glitters  in  the  wave,  the  rainbow,  the  lightning  and 
star;  its  cadence  is  heard  in  the  thunder  and  the 
cataract ;  its  softer  tones  go  sweetly  up  from  the 
thousand-voiced  harp  of  the  wind,  the  rivulet,  and 
forest,  and  the  cloud  and  sky  go  floating  over  us,  to 
the  music  of  its  melodies.  There's  not  a  moon- 
light ray,  that  comes  down  upon  the  stream  or  hill; 
not  a  breeze  falling  from  its  blue  air,  thrown  to  the 
birds  of  the  summer  valleys,  or  sounding  through 
the  midnight  rains  its  mournful  dirge  over  the 
perishing  flowers  of  spring;  not  a  cloud  bathing 
itself  like  an  angel  vision  in  the  rose  bushes  of  au- 
tumn twilight ;  nor  a  rock  glowing  in  the  starlight, 
as  if  dreaming  of  the  Eden-land — but  is  full  of  the 
beautiful  influence  of  poetry.  It  is  the  soul  of  be- 
ing. The  earth  and  heaven  are  quickened  by  its 
spirit,  and  the  great  deep,  in  tempest  and  in  calm, 
are  its  accent  and  mysterious  workings." 

The  life  of  a  poet  is  in  his  works.     However  his 
days  may  glide  on,  whether  peacefully  or  checkered 


312  ALFRED    B.    STREET. 

by  adventures,  he  lives  more  in  the  ideal  world 
which  he  has  created  for  himself,  than  in  that 
actual  world  which  is  about  us  all.  It  is  difficult, 
therefore,  to  show  him  as  we  would  wish,  before 
that  public  into  whose  ear,  as  into  a  confessional, 
he  lias  been  accustomed  to  pour  his  noblest  thoughts. 
In  this  case,  too,  we  are  attempting  to  sketch  one 
who  has  hardly  yet  reached  the  maturity  of  his 
years,  and  whose  writings  are,  we  trust,  but  the 
first  fruits  of  a  still  more  abundant  harvest. 

Alfred  B.  Street  is  descended  from  one  of  the 
oldest  and  most  respectable  families  in  the  state  of 
Connecticut — one  which  has  held  its  place  for  more 
than  two  hundred  years,  and  enrolled  among  its 
members  learned  scholars  and  eminent  divines.  It 
sprang  from  an  ancient  English  family,  one  member 
of  which,  Sir  Thomas  Street,  in  1681,  was  a  baron 
of  the  exchequer  and  justice  of  the  common  pleas, 
while  some  of  the  name  are  still  found  in  the  church 
and  army  in  the  parent  country.  In  Sussex  there 
is  still  in  existence  an  old  grey  ivy-clad  edifice,  cal- 
led Street  Church,  mentioned  in  the  Domesday 
Survey,  and  a  rectory  of  Street,  in  the  diocese  of 
Chichester  and  archdeaconry  of  Lewes. 

The  first  ancestor  of  the  family  in  this  country 
was  the  Rev.  Nicholas  Street,  who  was  settled  at 
Taunton,  in  the  colony  of  Plymouth,  about  the  year 
1638,  and  subsequently  became  the  pastor  of  the 
first  church  in  New  Haven.  He  was  a  good  theo- 
loo-ical  writer  and  noted  for  his  piety,  learning  and 
eloquence.  His  son,  the  Rev.  Samuel  Street,  after 
o-raduating  at  Harvard  college,  organized  a  church 
at  Wallingford  and  became  its  pastor.  His  early 
ministry  was  cast  in  those  wild  and  picturesque 
times  when  the  tomahawk  of  the  savage  was  ever 
threatening.     Consequently  the  male  portion  of  his 

people half  settler,  half  soldier — listened  to   his 

preaching  in  the  little  fortified  church,  with  loaded 
muskets  at  their  backs,  and  at  the  breaking  out  of 


ALFRED   B.    STREET.  313 

King  Philip's  war  in  1675,  his  house  was  also  forti- 
fied. He  continued  pastor  of  this  church  forty-two 
years,  and  until  his  death,  which  happened  in  1717. 

The  Hon.  Randall  S.  Street,  father  of  the  subject 
of  our  notice,  was  the  lineal  descendant  of  these 
two  eminent  clergymen.  He  removed  with  his 
father,  in  early  life,  into  the  state  of  New  York,  and 
his  branch  of  the  family  has  continued  to  reside 
there  ever  since,  but  the  other  branch  continued  in 
Connecticut,  and  is  still  represented  by  Augustus 
Russell  Street,  Esq.,  who  resides  at  New  Haven. 

Randall  S.  Street  studied  law  at  Poughkeepsie, 
married  Miss  Cornelia  Billings,  and  settled  there 
for  the  next  thirty  years  of  his  life.  Such  was  his 
standing  at  the  bar,  that  while  still  young,  he  was 
appointed  district  attorney  of  the  district  composed 
of  the  counties  of  Wayne,  Ulster,  Dutchess,  Dela- 
ware and  Sullivan,  under  the  old  organization  of 
districts,  and  subsequently  he  represented  the  county 
of  Dutchess  in  congress.  He  was  an  eminent  lawyer 
and  accomplished  gentleman,  and  among  the  recol- 
lections of  the  writer  of  this  sketch,  is  one  of  a  day 
spent  more  than  thirty  years  ago  at  the  residence 
of  Gen.  Street,  when  it  was  the  home  of  hospitality 
and  elegance.  In  182  4  Gen.  Street  removed  to 
Monticello,  Sullivan  county,  N.  Y.,  where  he  died  in 
1839. 

The  maternal  grandfather  of  our  author  was  Major 
Andrew  Billings,  who  married  Cornelia,  daughter 
of  James  Livingston,  of  the  well  known  family  of 
that  name  in  New  York.  Cornelia,  the  daughter 
by  this  marriage,  who  became  the  wife  of  Gen. 
Street,  was  the  mother  of  the  poet. 

He  was  born  in  the  village  of  Poughkeepsie,  and 
received  an  academical  education  at  the  Dutchess 
county  academy,  which  stood  in  the  front  rank  of 
kindred  institutions.  Poughkeepsie  is  well  known 
as  one  of  the  most  beautiful  villages  in  the  state. 
Situated  on  the  side  and  summit  of  a  slope  that 
40 


314  ALFRED    B.    STREET. 

swells  up  from  the  Hudson  river,  from  College,  hill 
there  is  a  prospect  of  almost  matchless  beauty.  A 
scene  of  rural  and  sylvan  loveliness  expands  from 
every  point  at  its  base — the  roofs  and  steeples  of  the 
busy  village  rise  from  the  foliage  in  which  it  seems 
embosomed — the  river  stretches  league  upon  league 
with  its  gleaming  curves  beyond — to  the  west  is  a 
range  of  splendid  mountains  ending  at  the  south  in 
the  misty  peaks  of  the  highlands — whilst  at  the 
north,  dim  outlines  sketched  upon  the  distant  sky, 
proclaim  the  domes  of  the  soaring  Catskills.  It 
was  among  these  scenes  that  our  author  passed  his 
childish  days — here  his  young  eye  first  drank  in  the 
glories  of  nature,  and  "the  foundations  of  his  mind 
were  laid." 

When,  however,  at  the  age  of  fourteen  he  removed 
with  his  family  to  Monticello,  he  was  immediately 
surrounded  with  scenes  in  striking  contrast  with 
those  of  his  former  life.  Sullivan  county  had  been 
organized  but  a  score  of  years,  and  was  hardly  yet 
rescued  from  the  wilderness.  Monticello,  its  county 
town,  was  surrounded  by  fields  which  only  a  short, 
time  before  were  parts  of  the  wild  forest  which  still 
hemmed  them  in  on  every  side.  These  forests  were 
threaded  with  bright  streams  and  scattered  with 
broad  lakes,  while  here  and  there  the  untiring  axe 
of  the  settler  during  the  last  quarter  of  a  century, 
had  been  opening  the  way  for  the  industry  and 
enterprise  of  man.  Secluded  as  Sullivan  county  is 
in  the  south-westernmost  nook  of  the  state,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  find  within  its  bounds  another  region 
of  such  sylvan  beauty  and  wild  grandeur.  The  eye 
is  filled  with  images  that  make  them  an  enduring 
place  in  the  mind,  storing  it  with  rich  and  unfading 
pictures,  and  among  these  scenes,  as  might  be  sup- 
posed, Mr.  Street  ranged  with  a  ceaseless  delight, 
probably  heightened  by  the  strong  contrast  before 
mentioned,  between  their  startling  picturesqueness 
and  the  soft  quiet  beauty  of  those  of  Dutchess.    In- 


ALFRED    B.    STREET.  315 

stead  of  the  smooth  meadowy  ascent,  he  saw  the 
broken  hill-side  blackened  with  fire,  or  just  grow- 
ing green  with  its  first  crop;  instead  of  the  yellow 
cornfield  stretching  far  as  the  eye  could  see,  he 
beheld  the  clearing  spotted  with  stumps,  with  the 
thin  rye  growing  between;  instead  of  the  comforta- 
ble farm-house  peeping  from  its  orchards,  he  saw  the 
log-cabin  stooping  amid  the  half-cleared  trees; 
the  dark  ravine  took  the  place  of  the  mossy  dell, 
and  the  wild  lake  of  the  sail-spotted  and  far-stretch- 
ing river. 

Thus  communing  with  nature,  Mr.  Street  em- 
bodied the  impressions  made  upon  him  in  language, 
and  in  that  form  most  appropriate  in  giving  vent  to 
deep  enthusiastic  feeling  and  high  thought — the 
form  of  verse.  Poem  after  poem  was  written  by 
him,  and  being  published  in  those  best  vehicles  of 
communication  with  the  public,  the  periodical  soon 
attracted  general  attention.  Secluded  from  man- 
kind, and  surrounded  with  nature  in  her  most  im- 
pressive features,  his  thought  took  the  direction  of 
that  of  which  he  saw  most,  and  thus  description 
became  the  characteristic  of  his  verse.  Equally  cut 
off  from  books,  his  poetry  found  its  origin  in  his  own 
study  of  nature  scenes,  and  in  the  thoughts  that  rose 
in  his  own  bosom.  The  leaves  and  flowers  were 
his  words — the  fields  and  hills  side  were  his  pages — 
and  the  whole  volume  of  nature,  his  treasury  of 
knowledge.  This,  while  it  may  have  made  him 
less  artistic,  was  the  means  of  that  originality  and 
unlikeness  to  any  one  else  which  are  to  be  found  in 
his  pages. 

But  while  thus  employing  his  leisure  in  tracing 
his  thoughts  in  language,  Mr.  Street  was  engaged 
in  studying  his  profession  of  law  in  the  office  of  his 
father,  and  in  due  time  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 
After  practicing  for  a  few  years  at  Monticello,  in 
1839,  he  removed  to  Albany,  where  he  has  continued 
to  reside  until  the  present  time.    In  1841,  Mr.  Street 


316  ALFRED    B.    STREET. 

married,  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Smith  Weed,  Esq., 
a  retired  merchant  of  fortune  and  great  respectability 
of  character. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  general  characteristics  of 
Mr.  Street's  poetry,  or  rather  of  the  peculiar  mental 
training  he  received,  and  which  gave  a  direction  to 
his  imagination.  And  beautifully  has  a  writer*  in 
the  Democratic  Review  summed  up  this  view  we 
have  given:  "Street  is  a  true  Flemish  painter, 
seizing  upon  objects  in  all  their  veri-similitude.  As 
we  read  him,  wild  flowers  peer  up  from  among 
brown  leaves;  the  drum  of  the  partridge,  the  ripple 
of  waters,  the  flickering  of  autumn  light,  the  sting 
of  sleety  snow,  the  cry  of  the  panther,  the  roar  of 
the  winds,  the  melody  of  birds,  and  the  odor  of 
crushed  pine  boughs,  are  present  to  our  senses.  In 
a  foreign  land,  his  poems  would  transport  us  at  once 
to  home.  He  is  no  second  hand  limner,  content  to 
furnish  insipid  copies,  but  draws  from  reality.  His 
pictures  have  the  freshness  of  originals.  They  are 
graphic,  detailed,  never  untrue,  and  often  vigorous; 
he  is  essentially  an  American  poet." 

A  writer  in  the  American  Review  remarks  thus 
of  his  poetry:  "Therythm  in  general  runs  with 
an  equable  and  easy  strength;  the  more  worthy  of 
regard  because  so  evidently  inartificial;  and  there 
is"often  in  the  frequent  minute  pictures  of  nature  a 
heedless  but  delicate  movement  of  the  measure,  a 
lingering  of  expression  corresponding  with  some 
dreamy  abandonment  of  thought  to  the  objects 
dwelt  upon,  or  a  rippling  lapse  of  language  where 
the  author's  mind  seemed  conscious  of  playing 
with  them — caught  as  it  were  from  the  flitting  of 
birds  among  leafy  boughs,  from  the  subtle  wander- 
ings of  the  bee,  and  the  quiet  brawling  of  woodland 
brooks  over  leaves  and  pebbles.  In  the  use  of  lan- 
guage, more  especially  in  verse,  Mr.  Street  is  sim- 
ple yet  rich  and  usually  very  felicitous.     This  is  pe- 

*  Henrv  T.  Tukcman. 


ALFRED    B.    STREET.  317 

culiarly  the  case  in  his  choice  of  appellatives  which 
he  selects  and  applies  with  an  aptness  of  descrip- 
tive beauty  not  surpassed,  if  equalled,  by  any  poet 
amongst  us — certainly  by  none  except  Bryant." 

"Besides  his  observation,  keen  as  the  Indian 
hunter's,  of  all  nature's  slight  and  simple  effects  in 
quiet  places,  Mr.  Street  has  a  most  gentle  and  con- 
templative eye  for  the  changes  which  she  silently 
throws  ever  the  traces  where  the  men  have  once 
been.  For  instance,  The  Old  Bridge  and  The 
Forsaken  Road.  When  he  comes  to  the  quiet 
scenes  in  America  which  he  has  seen  and  felt, 
he  has  passages  which  in  their  way,  Cowper,  Thom- 
son, Wordsworth,  or  Bryant,  never  excelled." 

And  in  England  his  claims  as  a  poet  have  been 
fully  recognized.  We  find  his  poem  of  The  Lost 
Hunter,  finely  illustrated  in  a  recent  London  peri- 
odical, and  the  Foreign  Quarterly  Review  speaks  of 
him  as  "  a  descriptive  poet  at  the  head  of  his  class." 
It  remarks  that  "his  pictures  of  American  scenery 
are  full  of  gusto  and  freshness."  The  Westminister 
Review,  in  noticing  the  collection  of  his  poems  by 
Clark  &  Austin,  says:  "It  is  long  since  we  met 
with  a  volume  of  poetry  from  which  we  have  de- 
rived so  much  unmixed  pleasure  as  from  the  col- 
lection now  before  us.  Right  eloquently  does  he 
discourse  of  nature,  her  changeful  features  and  her 
varied  moods,  as  exhibited  in  "America  with  her 
rich  green  forest  robe,"  and  many  are  the  glowing 
pictures  we  would  gladly  transfer  to  our  pages,  in 
proof  of  the  poet's  assertion  that  "nature  is  man's 
best  teacher." 

Besides  the  numerous  pieces  published  by  Mr. 
Street  in  different  periodicals,  he  delivered  three 
very  able  poems  before  the  Englossian  society  of 
Geneva,  and  the  Phi  Beta  Kappa  and  Philomathean 
societies  of  Union  college,  from  which  latter  insti- 
tution in  1841  he  received  the  honorary  degree  of 
A.  M.     A  complete  and  beautiful  edition  of  his  po- 


318  KENSEY    JOHNS. 

ems,  in  a  large  octavo  volume  of  more  than  three 
hundred  pages,  was  published  two  years  since  by- 
Messrs.  Clark  &  Austin,  of  New  York,  and  has 
already  passed  through  several  editions. 

We  are  writing  of  one,  however,  who  we  feel  has 
only  commenced  his  career.  His  last  publication, 
Frontenac,  a  Tale  of  the  Iroquois  in  1696,  has 
recently  been  issued  in  London;  and  we  have  no 
hesitation  in  asserting  that  it  will  stand  at  the  head 
of  American  poems.  It  is  no  small  evidence  of 
Mr.  Street's  reputation  in  England,  that  the  distin- 
guished London  publisher,  Mr.  Bentley,  to  whom 
this  poem  was  casually  mentioned,  at  once  entered 
into  an  arrangement  with  the  author  to  have  it 
brought  out  by  his  house.  Its  descriptions  of  natu- 
ral scenery — so  bright  and  vivid — and  its  sketches 
of  life  in  the  forest  and  the  Indian  village,  will  be 
something  most  novel  to  the  reading  public  abroad. 
There  is  a  delightful  freshness  about  it  which  can 
not  fail  to  charm  the  readers  of  the  old  world. 


KENSEY  JOHNS. 

Behold  the  western  evening  light, 

it  melts  in  deepening  gloom  ! 
So  calmly  Christians  sink  away, 

Descending  to  the  tomb. 

The  winds  breathe  low — the  withering  leaf 

Scarce  whispers  from  the  tree! 
So  gently  flows  the  parting  breath 

When  good  men  cease  to  be. 

^g^>  HE  death  of  the  late  distinguished  and 
^flSvik  veneraD^e  Kensev  Johns,  Sen.,  of  Delaware, 
Jp^r^  at  the  patriarchal  age  of  ninety,  although, 
5§H  from  his  infirmities,  a  long  expected  event,  lias 
#$  caused  regret  among  a  large  circle  of  friends  in 
^  Philadelphia,  as  well  as  in  the  state  which  he 
had  served,  in  the  highest  judicial  capacities,  during 


KENSEY    JOHNS.  319 

the  greater  period  of  his  protracted  and  useful  life. 
For  a  long  time  chief-justice,  and  afterwards  chan- 
cellor, of  Delaware,  he  was  distinguished  as  much 
for  official  integrity  and  ability  as  for  the  purity  and 
blamelessness  of  his  private  career.  A  relic  of  the 
first  and  best  days  of  the  republic,  he  could  claim 
the  glory  of  revolutionary  recollections,  and  what 
is  better,  of  revolutionary  services. 

At  the  early  age  of  eighteen,  he  was  a  minute- 
man  at  Annapolis,  in  Maryland,  and,  as  we  have 
often  heard  him  describe  the  scene,  beheld,  one 
morning  in  August,  1777,  from  his  watch  on  the 
bay  shore,  the  sad  though  magnificent  spectacle  of 
Howe's  fleet  passing  up  the  Chesapeake,  to  land  at 
Elk  river  and  march,  through  the  gore  of  Brandy- 
wine  and  Paoli,  to  the  capture  of  Philadelphia. 
Four  years  later,  in  September,  1781,  he  saw  at  the 
little  village  of  Newport,  on  the  Christiana  river, 
the  march  of  the  united  American  and  French 
armies,  commanded  by  Washington  and  Rocham- 
beau  in  person,  through  Delaware,  on  their  way  to 
Yorktown;  and,  some  six  or  seven  weeks  later  he 
had  the  satisfaction  to  assist  the  hasty  progress  of 
the  messenger  bearing  to  congress  the  glorious  news 
of  the  capitulation  of  Lord  Cornwall  is. 

He  was  the  last  of  the  members  of  the  Delaware 
convention  which  appointed  delegates  to  adopt  the 
present  constitution  of  the  United  States;  and  also 
the  last  survivor  of  the  convention  that  formed  the 
first  constitution  of  the  state  of  Delaware. # 

Apart  from  his  own  high  merits,  the  venerable 
deceased  was  entitled  to  claim  honor  from  the  dis- 
tinction of  various  connections  and  members  of  his 
family.  Of  his  three  living  sons,  all  are  eminent 
men;  the  eldest  being  the  present  chancellor  of 
Delaware;  the  second,  the  assistant  bishop  of  Vir- 
ginia; the  third,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Johns,  of  Baltimore. 

*  Delaware  was  the  first  state  to  adopt  and  ratify  the  present  constitu- 
tion of  the  United  States. 


320  KENSEY    JOHNS. 

He  was  a  brother-in-law  of  Nicholas  Van  Dyke,  so 
long  known  and  highly  respected,  as  a  senator  in 
congress  from  Delaware;  and  it  is  but  a  few  fleet- 
ing years  since  his  son-in-law,  Major  Thomas  Stock- 
ton, died,  while  filling  the  office  of  governor  of  the 
same  state. 

It  is  not  often  that  so  much  solid  worth  and  real 
distinction  go  down  to  the  grave  united  in  the  same 
person.  It  is  because  Mr.  Johns  chose  to  avoid 
political  distinctions,  living  a  public  life  solely 
within,  and  as  a  servant  of,  the  state  of  Delaware, 
in  preference  to  entering  the  service  of  the  republic, 
that  his  death  is  not  at  once  felt  as  a  loss  to  the 
whole  country.  There  are  thousands,  however,  who 
recognize  it  as  the  departure  of  one  of  the  country's 
best  and  purest  citizens. 

In  contemplating  the  useful  life  of  the  departed 
patriot,  we  can  not  but  contrast  it  with  that  of  those 
who  pass  off  the  stage  of  life  and  are  heard  of  no 
more.  Why?  They  did  not  a  particle  of  good  in 
the  world;  none  were  blest  by  them;  none  could 
point  to  them  as  the  instruments  of  their  redemp- 
tion; not  a  line  they  wrote,  not  a  word  they  spoke 
could  be  recalled  ;  and  so  they  perished,  their  light 
went  out  in  darkness,  and  they  were  not  remem- 
bered more  than  the  insect  of  yesterday.  Will  you 
thus  live  and  die,  O  man  immortal  ?  Live  for  some- 
thing. Do  good  and  leave  behind  you  a  monument 
of  virtue  that  the  storm  of  time  can  never  destroy. 
Write  your  name  in  kindness,  love  and  mercy,  on 
the  hearts  of  the  thousands  you  come  in  contact 
with  year  by  year,  and  you  will  never  be  forgotten. 
No,  your  name,  your  deeds,  will  be  as  legible  on 
the  hearts  you  leave  behind  as  the  stars  on  the 
brow  of  evening.  Good  deeds  will  shine  as  brightly 
on  earth  as  the  stars  in  Heaven. 

The  deceased  departed  this  life  at  his  residence, 
New  Castle,  Delaware,  on  the  21st  of  December, 
1848. 


GEORGE    N.    BRIGGS. 


321 


OW   governor    of    the    commonwealth    of 
Massachusetts,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Ad- 
ams, in  the  county  of  Berkshire,  on  the  12th 
of  April,  1796.     His  father  was  a  blacksmith 
who  reared  his  family  by  the  hard  labor  of  his 
41 


322  GEORGE   N.    BRIGGS. 

hands.     When  George  was   seven  years  old,   his 
father  removed  from  Adams  to  Manchester,  in  the 
state  of  Vermont,  where  he  resided  two  years ;  from 
thence  he  removed  to  White  Creek,  in  Washington 
county,  New  York,  where  he  resided  several  years. 
At  thirteen  years  of  age,   George  went  to  learn 
the  trade  of  a  hatter,  and  worked  at  it   for  three 
years,  though  in  a  very  irregular  manner.     He,  be- 
ing the  youngest  person  in  the  shop  or  family,  it  fell 
upon  him  to  do  the  errands,  go  to  mill,  and  do  a 
thousand  other  daily  duties,  which  younger  appren- 
tices were  always,  in  olden  time,  called  upon  to 
perform.     He  was  the  drudge.     After  staying  three 
years  with  the  hatter,  he  returned  home  and  went 
to  an  academy  one  year,   and  this  may  he  said  to 
have  been  all  the  education  he  ever  received  from 
a  schoolmaster,  or  in  a  school-house. 

In  September,  1813,  he  returned  to  his  native 
village  in  Berkshire,  with  nothing  but  a  small  trunk, 
slung  on  his  back,  containing  a  few  shirts  and  other 
pieces  of  clothing.  His  trunk  was  given  him  by 
his  sister-in-law,  one  of  the  kindest  of  women,  and 
one  of  the  best  friends  he  ever  had.  At  Adams,  the 
future  governor  entered  the  office  of  Mr.  Washburn, 
a  lawyer  of  respectability  in  the  county,  and  com- 
menced reading  law,  determined  to  make  the  pro- 
fession his  occupation  for  life.  He  remained  in 
Adams  one  year,  when  he  removed  to  Lanesboro,' 
in  the  same  county,  and  studied  laboriously  at  his 
profession  for  four  years,  at  the  end  of  which  time 
he  was  considered  qualified  to  commence  practice 
as  a  lawyer  in  the  courts;  and  accordingly,  in  Oc- 
tober, 1818,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  common 
pleas. 

He  was  now  a  young  man,  22  years  of  age,  a 
lawyer  and  practitioner.  Six  months  before  he 
completed  his  law  studies,  he  was  married ;  ever 
since  which  time  he  has  been  the  advocate  of  early 
marriages,  in  addition  to   the  other   good   causes 


GEORGE   N.    BRIGGS.  323 

which  he  has  supported.  After  having  been  admit- 
ted to  the  bar,  he  removed  from  Lanesborongh  to 
his  native  town  of  Adams,  where  he  put  out  his  sign 
and  opened  an  office.  He  remained  in  Adams  five 
years,  at  the  end  of  which  time  his  business  was 
such  that  he  found  it  would  be  for  his  advantage  to 
reside  at  the  shire  town  of  the  county;  and  accord- 
ingly he  removed  again  to  Lanesborongh,  where  he 
lived  until  the  spring  of  1842,  when  he  removed  to 
Pittsfield,  where  he  has  ever  since  lived. 

Mr.  Briggs  soon  found  himself  employed  in  an 
extensive  law  practice.  If  circumstances  had  de- 
prived him  of  the  many  advantages  which  a  liber- 
al education  gives,  nature  had,  on  the  other  hand, 
been  bountiful  in  her  gifts.  She  had  endowed  him 
with  an  acute,  logical  mind,  a  natural  eloquence, 
and  a  heart  warm  with  every  manly  sympathy. 
He  was  one  of  the  best  criminal  lawyers  in  that 
part  of  the  state,  and  was  engaged  in  most  of  the 
important  cases. 

In  1830  he  was  elected  to  congress,  and  took  his 
seat  in  the  house  of  representatives,  in  December, 
1831.  He  was  but  34  years  of  age  when  he  entered 
congress.  He  continued  to  represent  his  native  dis- 
trict until  the  people  called  him  to  the  gubernatorial 
chair.  He  was  reelected  to  congress  six  consecu- 
tive times,  and  served  as  a  member  of  the  United 
States  house  of  representatives  twelve  years.  The 
county  of  Berkshire,  which  composed  his  district,  is 
what  politicians  call  a  close  county ;  that  is,  in  it  par- 
ties were  nearly  equally  divided.  During  the  last 
twenty-five  years,  it  has  been,  in  about  equal  pro- 
portion, whig  and  democratic ;  sometimes  electing 
whig  senators  and  sometimes  democratic ;  but  the 
personal  popularity  of  George  N.  Briggs,  when  up 
for  congress,  never  failed  to  give  for  him  a  decided 
majority,  and  to  elect  him  the  representative  of  the 
free  and  intelligent  yeomanry  of  the  blue  hills  and 
green  valleys  of  old  Berkshire. 


324  GEORGE   N.    BRIGGS. 

Governor  Briggs  carried  to  Washington  the  poli- 
tical principles  and  high  moral  and  religious  pre- 
cepts which  he  had  been  taught  in  his  native  New 
England.  No  man  was  ever  more  beloved  and  re- 
spected by  his  associates,  of  all  parties,  than  he  was, 
while  serving  as  a  member  of  congress.  He  was 
reputed  to  be  one  of  the  best  presiding  officers  in 
the  house,  and  was  frequently  called  to  the  chair 
while  the  house  sat  in  committee  of  the  whole. 
His  knowledge  of  parliamentary  law  was  extensive, 
and  upon  questions  of  parliamentary  precedent  his 
opinions  carried  great  weight. 

He  was  known  in  congress  as  a  strong  advocate 
of  temperance,  and  his  life  practically  illustrated 
his  deep  convictions  on  that  subject.  He  was  in- 
strumental in  doing  much  good  by  his  addresses, 
example,  and  advice.  His  name  is  held  in  high 
and  deserved  esteem  by  the  friends  of  temperance 
in  the  District  of  Columbia;  for  many  of  them, 
has  his  warning  voice  saved  from  permature  death 
and  a  drunkard's  grave. 

Many  of  our  readers  will  recollect  the  interest 
which  was  felt  in  this  part,  of  the  country,  when 
Mr.  Marshall,  of  Kentucky,  through  the  advice  of 
Mr.  Briggs,  put  his  name  to  the  pledge.  Marshall 
is  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  men  our  country 
has  ever  produced.  Descended  from  one  of  the 
first  families  in  Kentucky,  related  to  the  late  Chief 
Justice  Marshall,  possessed  of  a  mind  of  remark- 
able strength  and  brilliancy,  a  musical  voice,  and  a 
commanding  person,  he  came  to  congress,  for  the 
first  time,  in  1841,  from  the  Lexington  district,  in 
Kentucky.  His  reputation  as  an  orator  and  states- 
man, however  had  preceded  him,  though  he  was 
yet  comparatively  a  young  man.  He  had  served 
with  distinction  in  the  legislature  of  his  native 
state,  and  as  a  popular  orator  he  was  second  to  no 
man  in  the  state.  His  appetite  for  strong  drink 
was   early   formed;    and   it  grew  upon   him.     At 


GEORGE   N.   BRIGGS.  325 

Washington,  amid  the  excitement  and  dissipation 
of  the  capital,  his  habit  increased  until  delirium 
tremens  ensued.  At  this  moment  Gov.  Briggs  step- 
ped forth  to  save  him.  He  signed  the  pledge,  and 
while  he  remained  in  Washington,  and  for  two 
years  after,  he  remained  faithful  to  it.  We  could 
go  on  and  relate  many  anecdotes  and  reminiscen- 
ces of  Mr.  Briggs,  which  would  not  be  without 
interest,  but  the  space  allotted  for  this  sketch  will 
not  admit  of  it. 

While  in  congress,  he  served  on  the  committee 
on  post  offices  and  post  roads,  and  during  the 
27th  congress,  he  was  chairman  of  that  committee. 
While  on  that  committee  he  advocated  a  reduction 
of  the  postage,  and  a  bill  of  his  passed  the  house 
of  representatives,  reducing  the  postage  on  letters 
to  five  and  ten  cents,  and  abolishing  the  franking 
privilege.  The  bill  was  afterwards  lost  in  the 
senate.  No  one  has  done  more  for  cheap  postage 
than  Gov.  Briggs.  He  was  emphatically  a  useful 
and  highly  respected  member. 

In  1843,  he  was  elected  Governor  of  Massachu- 
setts, and  has  been  reelected  every  year  since. 
How  he  has  performed  the  duties  of  governor,  the 
people  of  the  state  need  not  be  informed.  In  per- 
son he  is  about  six  feet  in  height,  has  a  pleasant, 
laughing  blue  eye,  and  light  hair,  now  tinged  with 
grey.  As  a  man,  Governor  Briggs  is  unassuming, 
kind-hearted,  and  courteous.  He  is  emphatically 
a  social  being.  No  one  can  tell  stories  better,  or 
tell  more  of  them,  or  will  laugh  heartier  at  one 
told  by  another,  than  Governor  Briggs.  In  every 
relation  in  life,  as  a  man,  a  magistrate,  a  husband, 
a  father,  or  a  friend,  we  know  of  not  one  stain  that 
blots  the  spotless  purity  of  his  life  and  character. 
— Boston  Museum. 


326  JABEZ    D.    HAMMOND. 


JABEZ  D.  HAMMOND. 

"  As  the  wild  flower  of  the  desert  springs  up,  hlossoms,  and  sheds  its 
fragrance  upon  the  summer  air,  and  dies,  so  man  goes  forth  upon  the 
ocean  of  life,  spreads  the  'wide-expanded  sail  of  hope'  to  the  waiting 
hreeze,  and,  with  a  clear  sky,  fain  would  helieve  that  his  will  be  a  pros- 
perous voyage." 

R.  HAMMOND,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  the  son  of  Jabez  Hammond,  and  was 
born   in   New  Bedford,  Massachusetts,   on 
the  2d  of  August,  1778.     The  maiden  name  of 
>  his  mother  was  Delano.     His  father  was  a  di- 
rect lineal  descendant  in  the  fourth  generation 
from  Admiral  Penn,  whose  daughter  Elizabeth,  the 
sister  of  Sir  William  Penn,  married  William  Ham- 
mond, of  London,  England,  and  who,  after  his  death, 
in  1634,  removed,  with  her  son  Benjamin,  to  Boston, 
where  she  died  in  1640.     While  still  an  infant,  his 
father   and   mother,    with   a   numerous   family   of 
children,  removed  from  Bedford,  Massachusetts,  to 
Woodstock,  Vermont,  and  were  among  the  early 
settlers  of  that  town.     His  father  had  followed  the 
trade  of  shoe-making  in  Massachusetts,  but  having 
purchased  and  moved  on  a  farm  in  Vermont,  he 
there  turned  his  attention  to  clearing  it  up  and  culti- 
vating for  a  livelihood.    The  subject  of  this  sketch,  in 
common  with  the  other  children,  had  few  advan- 
tages of  early  culture.     In  those  early  periods,  the 
advantages  even  of  a  common  district  school  very 
seldom  offered   themselves.     But  notwithstanding 
the  smallness  of  his  opportunities,  he  gave   early 
evidence  that  he  possessed  a  mind  of  no  -common 
order.     In  the  fall  of  1793,  at  the  age  of  fifteen,  he 
left  his  father's  house,  and  commenced  the  business 
of  teaching  a  district  school  in  Hartford,  a  town  ad- 
joining Woodstock.     He  spent  a  portion  of  the  next 
year  in  teaching  school  in  Sharon,  Vt.,  receiving  as 
a  compensation  four  dollars  per  month. 

As  he  early  found  himself  in  the  possession  of  a 


JABEZ    D.    HAMMOND.  327 

larger  share  of  intellectual  power  than  ordinarily 
falls  to  the  lot  of  one  so  young,  and  as  he  possessed 
a  physical  organization  not  adapted  to  the  rough 
pursuits  of  agriculture,  and  as  his  tastes  and  inclina- 
tions all  led  him  to  use  his  mind  as  a  means  of  liv- 
ing, he  turned  his  thoughts  towards  obtaining  a 
profession.  The  summer  of  1795  he  spent  with  Dr. 
Drew,  a  very  respectable  physician,  near  his  father's 
residence,  with  a  view  to  the  study  of  physic ;  and 
during  the  winter  he  kept  a  school  in  the  adjoining 
town  of  Windsor,  at  six  dollars  per  month.  The 
summers  of  1796-7  were  both  spent  with  Dr.  Drew, 
while  the  winter  of  the  first  was  spent  in  keeping  a 
school  at  Fort  Ann,  in  the  state  of  New- York;  and 
of  the  second,  in  keeping  one  at  Hartford,  N.  Y.,  at 
nine  dollars  per  month.  The  year  179S  was  also 
spent  in  teaching  school,  a  part  of  the  time  in  Sa- 
lem, N.  Y.,  at  ten  dollars  per  month,  and  a  part  in 
Granville,  at  eleven  dollars  per  month. 

The  summer  of  1799  witnessed  him  commencing 
the  practice  of  physic  in  Reading,  Vermont.  He, 
however,  soon  became  satisfied  that  he  had  mis- 
taken his  profession,  and  the  same  year  he  came  to 
Argyle,  New  York,  where  he  once  more  engaged  in 
keeping  school.  In  1800,  he  was  in  Salem,  follow- 
ing the  same  occupation.  The  summer  of  1801  he 
spent  in  Canada,  and  the  winter  in  Vermont,  keep- 
ing school.  In  1802  he  is  found  at  Cherry  Valley, 
Middlefield,  Newburgh  and  Montgomery;  and  in 
the  following  year,  in  Newburgh  and  Montgomery, 
in  the  same  occupation.  The  winter  of  1804  was 
also  spent  in  teaching  school,  which  seems  to  have 
closed  his  career  as  a  teacher.  It  is  believed,  that 
few  men  living,  who  have  not  made  school  teaching 
the  great  business  of  their  lives,  can  show  a  longer 
or  more  persevering  devotion  to  the  art  and  mystery 
of  communicating  knowledge,  than  Mr.  Hammond. 
This  may  readily  and  truly  be  assigned  as  one  of 
the  causes  why  he  has  ever  felt  and  manifested  so 


328  JABEZ    D.    HAMMOND. 

deep  an  interest  in  the  success  of  common  schools, 
and  urged  their  claims  so  strongly  upon  the  public 
mind  for  consideration. 

Mr.  Hammond  had  for  some  time  turned  his  at- 
tention to  the  study  of  law,  hoping  and  expecting  to 
find  in  that  a  more  kindred  pursuit  than  in  the  prac- 
tice of  physic.  In  the  year  1805,  he  pursued  the 
study  of  it,  in  Goshen,  Orange  county;  and  in  the 
spring  of  the  year  following,  was  admitted  an  attor- 
ney in  the  Orange  county  court  of  common  pleas. 
Soon  afterwards,  he  established  himself  in  the  prac- 
tice of  law,  in  Cherry  Valley,  Otsego  county,  where 
he  became  permanently  located  tor  many  years, 
and  where  he  has  spent  most  of  his  professional  life. 
He  was  not  admitted  as  an  attorney  of  the  supreme 
court  of  New  York  until  the  year  1809,  when  he 
had  attained  the  age  of  thirty-one  years.  The  year 
following,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Miranda  Stod- 
dard, of  Connecticut. 

In  1814,  after  a  spirited  canvass,  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  congress  for  Otsego  county;  his  per- 
sonal popularity  was  what  contributed  much  to  the 
successful  result.  He  was  a  member  of  the  con- 
gress that  took  the  responsibility  of  changing 
the  compensation  of  the  members  from  a  per 
diem  allowance  to  a  fixed  salary;  but  he  was, 
upon  principle,  opposed  to  the  passage  of  the  bill. 
His  congressional  course  was  firm  and  consistent, 
and  characterized  by  that  strict  integrity  that  ever 
marked  his  conduct  on  all  occasions.  For  a  new 
member,  he  acquired  and  exercised  much  influence 
in  the  national  legislature. 

So  fully  did  his  congressional  course  meet  the  ap- 
probation of  his  constituents,  that,  in  the  election  of 
1817,  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  senate  of  the 
state  of  New  York.  The  period  during  which  Mr. 
Hammond  was  in  the  state  senate,  was  one  of  the 
most  active  and  exciting  in  the  political  history  of 
New  York.     He  was  of  the  republican  school,  but 


JABEZ   D.    HAMMOND.  329 

was  a  political  and  personal  friend  of  the  late  Gov- 
ernor T>e  Witt  Clinton.  While  a  member  of  the 
senate,  he  was  appointed  a  member  of  the  council 
of  appointment.  This  was  a  curious  anomaly  of  the 
constitution  of  1777.  The  state  was  divided  into 
four  senatorial  districts:  southern,  middle,  eastern 
and  western.  Out  of  each  one  of  these  districts, 
once  a  year,  the  assembly  nominated  one  senator; 
and  these  four,  thus  nominated,  together  with  the 
governor,  constituted  the  appointing  power,  dispens- 
ing, in  fact,  all  the  patronage  of  the  state.  The 
manner  in  which  this  council  was  appointed,  the 
individuals  who  successively  composed  it,  and  its 
course  of  action,  are  all  detailed  with  great  fidelity 
in  Mr.  Hammond's  political  history  of  INew  York. 
When  a  senator,  he  procured  the  charter  of  the 
Cherry  Valley  bank,  which  is  now,  after  the  lapse 
of  thirty  years,  in  a  flourishing  condition. 

While  a  member  of  the  senate,  and  on  the  19th 
of  October,  1819,  Mr.  Hammond  experienced  a  most 
severe  loss  in  the  death  of  his  eldest  child  and  only 
daughter  Maria,  a  lovely  girl,  of  the  age  of  eight 
years.  This  terrible  blow,  inflicted  as  it  was  upon 
a  mind  peculiarly  sensitive,  was  of  a  nature  so  se- 
vere, that  he  was  long  in  recovering  from  it* 

"  Yet  no  one  feels  the  death  of  a  child  as  a  mother  feels  it.  Even  the 
father  can  not  realize  it  thus.  There  is  a  vacancy  in  his  home  and  a 
heaviness  in  his  heart.  There  is  a  chain  of  association  that  at  set  times 
comes  round  with  its  broken  link;  their  memories  of  endearment,  a  keen 
sense  of  loss,  a  weeping  over  crushed  hopes,  and  a  pain  of  wounded 
affection.  But  a  mother  feels  that  one  has  been  taken  away  who  was 
still  closer  to  her  heart.  Hers  has  been  the  office  of  constant  ministra- 
tion. Every  gradation  of  feature  has  developed  before  her  eyes.  She 
has  detected  every  new  gleam  of  intelligence.  She  has  heard  the  first 
utterance  of  every  new  word.  She  has  been  the  refuge  of  his  fears;  the 
supply  of  his  wants.  And  every  task  of  affection  has  woven  a  new  link, 
and  made  dear  to  her  its  object.  And  when  the  little  innocent  dies  a  por- 
tion other  own  life,  as  it  were,  dies.  How  can  she  give  him  up  with  all 
these  memories,  these  associations?  These  timid  hands  have  so  often 
taken  hers  in  trust  and  love,  how  can  she  fold  them  on  her  breast,  and 
give  them  up  to  the  cold  clasp  of  death  ?  The  feet  whose  wanderings 
she  has  watched  so  narrowly,  how  can  she  see  them  straightened  to  go 
down  into  the  dark  valley?  The  head  that  she  has  pressed  to  her  lips 
and  her  bosom,  that  she  has  watched  in  burning  sickness  and  peaceful 

42 


330  JABEZ   D.    HAMMOND. 

During  the  intervals  intervening  between  the  ses- 
sions of  the  legislature,  Mr.  Hammond  was  engaged 
in  the  successful  practice  of  his  profession  at  Cherry 
Valley,  where  he  had  a  large  business  which  he 
conducted  with  great  success. 

In  the  spring  of  1822,  Mr.  Hammond  removed 
with  his  family  to  the  city  of  Albany,  where  he 
continued  to  reside  until  1830.  While  in  Albany 
he  continued  the  practice  of  the  legal  profession, 
and  was  engaged  in  various  public  employments. 
The  winters  of  1825-6,  he  spent  in  the  city  of 
Washington,  having  been  appointed  by  the  govern- 
or, agent  of  the  state  to  settle  and  adjust  with  the 
general  government  some  claims  which  the  state  of 
New  York  had  against  it.  The  summers  of  those 
years  were  occupied  by  him  in  performing  his 
duties  as  state  road  commissioner  to  examine  and 
report  a  favorable  route  for  a  state  road. 

slumber,  a  hair  of  which  she  would  not  see  harmed.  Oh!  how  can  she 
consign  it  to  the  slumber  of  the  grave?  The  form  that  not  lor  one  night 
has  been  beyond  her  vision,  or  her  knowledge,  how  can  she  put  it  away 
for  the  long  night  of  the  sepulchre,  to  see  it  no  more?  Man  has  cares 
and  toils  that  draw  his  thoughts  and  employ  them;  she  sits  in  loneliness, 
and  all  these  memories,  all  these  suggestions,  crowd  upon  her.  How 
can  she  bear  all  this?  She  could  not,  were  it  not  that  her  faith  is  as  her 
affiction;  and  if  the  one  is  more  deep  aud  tender  than  in  man,  the  other 
is  more  simple  and  spontaneous,  and  takes  confidently  hold  of  the  hand 
of  God. 


Dr.  Cheever,  describing  the  frozen  dead  at  the  Monastery  of  St.  Ber- 
nard, says,  "the  scene  of  the  greatest  interest  at  the  hospital— a  solemn, 
extraordinary  interest,  indeed— is  thai  of  the  Morgue,  or  building  where 
the  dead  bodies  of  lost  travelers  are  deposited.  There  they  are,  some  of 
them  as  when  the  breath  of  life  departed,  and  the  death-angel,  with  his 
instruments  of  frost  and  snow,  stiffened  and  embalmed  forages.  The 
floor  is  thick  with  nameless  skulls  and  bones,  and  human  dust,  heaped  in 
confusion.  But  around  the  wall  a  group  of  poor  sufferers,  in  the  very 
position  in  which  they  were  found,  as  rigid  as  marble,  preserved  by  the 
element  of  an  eternal  frost,  are  regularly  arranged.  There  is  to  he  seen 
the  mother  and  child,  a  most  affecting  instance  of  suffering  and  love. 
The  face  of  the  little  one  remains  pressed  on  the  mother's  bosom,  only  the 
back  part  of  the  skull  being  visible,  the  body  enfolded  in  her  careful  arm 
— careful  in  vain,  affectionate  in  vain,  to  shield  her  offspring  from  the 
elemental  wrath  of  the  tempest.  The  snow  fell  fast  and  thick,  and  the 
hurricane  wound  them  up  in  one  white  shroud,  and  buried  them. 


JABEZ    D.    HAMMOND.  331 

111  February  of  the  year  1828,  Mr.  Hammond  was 
aj?ain  called  upon  to  experience  a  severe  domestic 
affliction"  in  the  loss  of  a  little  son  Jabez,  a  very 
promising  and  lovely  little  boy  of  between  seven 
and  eight  years  of  age.  This  was  a  heavy  affliction, 
and  was  felt  by  Mr.  Hammond  in  all  its  severity. 
It  would  seem  as  if  afflictions  of  this  character  were 
sometimes  reserved  by  divine  providence  for  those 
who  were  so  constituted  as  to  feel  them  with  the 
greatest  degree  of  intensity.  It  was  long  before  he 
recovered  from  the  shock.  The  following  lines 
were  penned  by  him  about  the  time  as  expressive 
of  his  feelings. 

Son,  thou  hast  fled ; 
Thou  wert  a  green  and  verdant  leaf, 

And  /  am  pale  and  sere ; 
Yet  thou  hast  fallen,  while  in  grief 

/still  am  lingering  here. 
My  noble,  oh!  my  darling  boy, 
Thou  wert  thy  father's  hope  and  joy, 

Yet  thou  hast  fled. 

Tell  me  not  of  it  friend— when  the  young  weep, 
Their  tears  are  like  warm  brine;  from  our  old  eyes 
Sorrow  falls  down  like  hail-drops  of  the  north, 
Chilling  the  furrows  of  our  withered  cheeks. 
Cold  as  our  hopes  and  hardened  as  our  feelings; 
Theirs  as  they  fall  sink  sightless,  ours  recoil, 
Heap  the  fair  plain  and  blacken  all  before  us. 

In  the  year  1831,  Mr.  Hammond  left  this  country 
on  a  visit  to  Europe.  He  visited  England,  Ireland 
and  Scotland,  and  also  Paris  and  some  other  parts 
of  France.  He  returned  in  the  fall  of  the  year 
much  improved  in  health.  During  his  absence  his 
wife  died,  of  which  he  received  no  information 
until  his  return.  Soon  afterwards  he  visited  the 
southern  and  western  states,  spending  the  winter 
at  the  south. 

After  his  return,  and  in  the  latter  part  of  April, 
1832,  he  removed  to  Cherry  Valley,  Otsego  county, 
where  he  had  spent  so  long  a  period  of  the  business 
part  of  his  life.  In  the  fall  of  the  same  year  he 
married  Miss  Laura  Williams,  of  Woodstock,  Ver- 


332  JABEZ    D.    HAMMOND. 

mont.  On  his  return  to  Cherry  Valley  he  again 
commenced  the  practice  of  the  legal  profession,  and 
so  continued  until  February,  1838,  when  he  was 
appointed  first  judge  of  Otsego  county  for  the  term 
of  five  years. 

In  1840,  he  conceived  the  idea  of  writing  the 
political  history  of  New  York,  a  task  at  once  diffi- 
cult and  delicate,  as  it  required  much  study  and 
research,  the  exercise  of  a  keen  discrimination,  and 
great  care  and  nicety  in  detailing  the  acts  of  living 
characters.  The  writing  of  this  work  was  prose- 
cuted during  the  year  1841,  and  it  was  published 
in  two  volumes  in  the  following  year.  The  manner 
in  which  this  work  was  received  by  the  public, 
afforded  satisfactory  evidence  that  its  author  had 
been  abundantly  successful  in  the  performance  of 
his  difficult  and  delicate  task. 

In  the  year  1843,  he  was  reappointed  judge  of 
Otsego  county.  This  as  also  his  previous  appoint- 
ment was  made  without  reference  to  party  politics, 
Mr.  Hammond  having  withdrawn  from  any  active 
participation  in  them  from  the  time  of  his  return 
from  Europe. 

In  1845,  Mr.  Hammond  had  conferred  upon  him 
the  honorary  degree  of  LL.  D.  by  the  trustees  of 
Hamilton  college,  an  honor  deservedly  bestowed 
upon  him,  and  truly  indicating  the  high  estimation 
in  which  he  was  held  by  the  public.  The  same 
year  he  was  also  elected  regent  of  the  university  of 
the  state  of  New  York,  an  office  which  he  has  ever 
since  and  now  holds. 

In  1847,  he  was  solicited  to  write  a  continuation 
of  his  political  history,  by  adding  to  it  the  life  and 
times  of  Silas  Wright.  After  some  hesitation  he 
finally  consented  to  undertake  it;  and  in  the  follow- 
ing year  it  was  published,  making  an  additional 
volume  to  his  political  history.  This  was  eagerly 
received  by  the  public,  and  although  necessarily 
involving  a  more  extensive  and  minute  detail  of 


JABEZ    D.    HAMMOND.  333 

the  acts  of  living  actors  than  the  former  volumes, 
afforded  nevertheless,  by  the  manner  in  which  it 
was  received,  the  most  gratifying  evidence  that  the 
task,  although  difficult  and  delicate,  had  been  most 
faithfully  performed. 

In  the  opening  of  the  year  1849,  Mr.  Hammond 
was  again  called  upon  to  suffer  a  heart-rending 
domestic  affliction  in  the  removal,  suddenly  and 
unexpectedly,  and  daring  an  absence  from  home, 
of  his  only  remaining  child,  Wells  S.  Hammond. 
He  was  a  young  man  of  great  worth  and  promise, 
and  was,  and  long  had.  been,  established  in  the 
practice  of  the  legal  profession  in  the  village  of 
Cherry  Valley.  His  correct  taste,  accurate  intelli- 
gence, strict  integrity,  amiable  and  friendly  feelings, 
and  prompt  business  qualifications,  had  endeared 
him  to  the  town  and  county  in  which  he  resided, 
and  to  large  circles  of  friends  in  different  parts  of 
the  state.  The  more  these  qualities  had  displayed 
themselves  the  more  severe  appeared  this  afflictive 
dispensation. 

In  respect  to  the  intellect  which  has  fallen  to  the 
share  of  Mr.  Hammond,  his  acts,  the  stations  he 
has  occupied,  and  the  works  he  has  published,  fur- 
nish the  most  abundant  evidence.  Those,  however, 
who  have  had  opportunities  of  forming  intimate 
associations  with  him,  would  feel  that  some  portion 
of  injustice  was  done  him,  if  no  reference  were 
made  to  the  high  moral  considerations  by  which 
he  has  been  actuated,  to  the  stern  and  inflexible 
integrity  he  has  ever  succeeded  in  preserving,  even 
amid  the  seductive  influences  of  political  life,  and 
to  the  ardent  desire  he  has  ever  manifested  of  aid- 
ing his  friends,  and  especially  of  affording  to  the 
young  every  possible  facility  in  making  their  way 
upward  and  onward  in  life.  Numbers  of  these  will 
continue  to  bless  his  name  long  after  he  has  de- 
scended to  the  tomb  of  his  fathers. 


334  JABEZ   D.  HAMMOND. 

The  following  touching  lines  by  one  of  our  best  female  poets,  is  per- 
haps unequalled.  Those  who  have  experienced  the  loss  of  all  they  hold 
dear,  can  not  but  weep  over  its  truthfulness : 

Hide  them,  O  hide  them  all  away — 

Her  little  cap,  her  little  frock ; 
And  take  from  out  my  aching  sight 

Yon  curling  golden  lock; 
Ah,  once  it  waved  upon  her  brow! — 

Ye  torture  me  anew, — 
Leave  not  so  dear  a  token  here — 

Ye  know  not  what  ye  do ! 

Last  night  the  moon  came  in  my  room, 

And  on  my  bed  did  lie; 
I  woke,  and  in  the  silver  light 

I  thought  I  heard  her  cry. 
1  leaned  towards  the  little  crib, 

The  curtain  drew  aside, 
Before,  half  sleeping,  I  bethought 

Me,  that  my  girl  had  died. 

Take  them  away !  I  can  not  look 

On  aught  that  breathes  of  her. 
O,  take  away  the  silver  cup, 

Her  little  lips  were  there. 
Take  the  straw  hat  from  off  the  wall, 

'Tis  wreathed  with  withered  flowers; 
The  rustling  leaves  do  whisper  me 

Of  all  the  loved,  lost  hours. 

The  rattle,  with  its  music  bells — 

O,  do  not  let  them  sound ! 
The  dimpled  hand  that  grasped  them  once 

Is  cold  beneath  the  ground. 
The  willow  wagon  on  the  lawn 

Through  all  my  tears  I  see; 
Roll  it  away,  O !  gently  roll, 

It  is  an  agony ! 

Her  shoes  are  in  the  corner,  nurse, 

Her  little  feet  no  more 
Will  patter  like  the  lulling  rain, 

Fast  up  and  down  the  floor. 
And  turn  that  picture  from  the  wall — 

Her  loving,  mournful  eye 
Is  piercing  through  my  very  heart, 

Again  I  see  her  die ! 

O,  anguish  !  how  she  gazed  on  me 

When  panted  out  her  breath ! 
I  never,  never  knew  before 

How  terrible  was  death. 
My  girl — my  own — my  only  one — 

Art  thou  for  ever  gone  ? 
O  God  help  me  to  bear  the  stroke 

That  leaves  me  all  alone ! 


STURTIVANT    J.    HAMBLIN.  335 


STURTIVANT  J.  HAMBLIN, 


«»' 


AS  born  on  Jewell's  island,  in  the  state  of 
Maine,  on  the  18th  March,  1817.  His 
father,  Almery  Hamblin,  was  a  house 
|*  painter  by  trade,  but  was  chiefly  occupied  by 
farming  and  fishing,  for  which  purpose  he  pur- 
chased Jewell's  island  in  1810.  This  is  one  of  the 
outer  islands  in  Cesco  bay,  situated  about  ten  miles 
from  the  city  of  Portland,  and  is  much  noted  from 
the  many  people  who  resort  there  to  dig  for  treasures, 
said  to  have  been  there  deposited  by  the  notorious 
pirate,  Kidd.  Many  a  frightful  and  thrilling  story 
has  been  founded  upon  the  circumstances  attending 
these  money  diggers,  which  would  furnish  ample 
materials  for  the  novelist.  This  island  is  said  to 
contain  not  only  large  stores  of  ill-gotten  wealth, 
but  is  also  supposed  to  contain  mines  of  gold,  silver 
and  copper.  This  island  contains  about  two  hun- 
dred acres,  has  an  excellent  harbor,  and  from  the 
unevenness  of  its  surface,  having  many  high  hills 
covered  with  a  thick  growth  of  wood,  is  said  to  be  the 
most  suitable  place  of  any  on  the  coast  for  a  contra- 
band trade.  From  this  circumstance  it  is  presumed 
the  stories  relative  to  the  abundance  of  its  wealth, 
&c,  originated. 

Almery  Hamblin  was  the  son  of  George  Amory 
Hamblin,  who  died  January  5, 1839,  at  the  advanced 
age  of  87.  He  resided  in  the  town  of  Goshen,  in 
Maine,  and  was  a  descendant  of  James  Hamblin, 
who  settled  at  Barnstable  in  1640. 

Born  amidst  such  romantic  scenery,  it  is  no  wonder 
that  the  mind  of  the  subject  of  our  sketch  was  insen- 
sibly led  to  the  love  of  the  arts  for  which  he  is  so  cele- 
brated. At  the  early  age  of  six  or  seven  years  he 
might  have  been  seen  with  a  piece  of  chalk  tracing 


336  STURTIVANT    J.    HAMBLIN. 

the  surrounding  objects,  particularly  those  places 
associated  with  remarkable  stories,  arranging  his 
characters  from  imagination. 

At  the  age  of  seven  he  lost  a  little  brother  to  whom 
he  was  greatly  attached,  and  by  which  he  was  greatly 
affected.  The  following  day,  he  was  seen  to  take 
a  piece  of  chalk  and  a  board  and  retire  to  the  room 
where  lay  the  child  in  the  habiliments  of  the  grave. 
In  the  course  of  an  hour  he  returned,  having  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining  a  likeness  so  correct  as  to  induce 
his  father  to  procure  the  materials  for  its  painting, 
which  was  readily  accomplished.  This  likeness  is 
still  retained  in  the  family  as  a  specimen  of  the 
artist's  early  productions. 

On  the  following  year  his  parents  removed  to  the 
city  of  Portland,  where  his  facilities  for  improvement 
in  his  favorite  study  were  greatly  increased  by  his 
being  allowed  to  attend  the  Museum  free  of  expense. 
Having  a  natural  ear  for  music,  he  also  in  a  short 
time  learned  to  play  "by  ear"  on  several  instru- 
ments. In  his  twelfth  year  he  was  employed  to 
paint  a  family  of  "  Grotesque  Negroes,"  then  in  the 
place.  For  this,  which  created  much  sport,  he  was 
well  remunerated. 

About  this  time  he  lost  his  father,  and  was  left  to 
the  care  of  an  older  brother,  with  whom  as  a  builder 
he  worked  for  several  years.  At  the  age  of  nineteen 
he  became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Charles  Codman, 
a  celebrated  landscape  painter  in  Portland,  with 
whom  he  remained  one  year,  paying  a  high  price  for 
his  instruction.  But  his  money  failing,  he  for  some 
time  carried  on  the  business  of  house  and  sign 
painting.  In  his  20th  year  he  married  Miss  Harriet 
N.  York,  daughter  of  Capt.  Reuben  York,  of  Portland. 
About  this  time,  business  being  much  depressed,  he 
with  two  of  his  brothers,  purchased  a  small  schooner 
of  about  80  tons  burden,  with  the  intention  of  fol- 
lowing the  fishing  business;  but  not  meeting  with 


STURT1VANT   J.    HAMBLIN.  337 

sufficient  success,  and  having  experienced  much 
rough  weather,*  he  became  dissatisfied  and  sold  his 
share  of  the  vessel.  The  proceeds  he  applied  in 
part  pay  for  a  farm  in  the  vicinity  of  Portland,  upon 
which  he  settled.  But  misfortune  again  followed 
in  his  track.  The  farm  was  located  at  the  head  of 
a  bay,  and  in  order  to  enrich  their  land,  the  farmers 
were  in  the  habit  of  procuring  the  marsh  mud.  To 
do  this  it  was  necessary  to  go  down  the  bay  about 
two  miles  at  high  water,  and  leave  their  boat  over 
the  mud  until  the  tide  left,  when  it  was  loaded  and 
remained  until  it  floated  off. 

On  one  of  these  occasions,  during  an  intensely 
cold  night  in  the  depth  of  winter,  himself  and 
another  man,  having  loaded  their  boat,  as  it 
emerged  into  deep  water,  they  to  their  dismay,  dis- 
covered that  owing  to  its  being  too  deeply  loaded, 
it  was  rapidly  sinking.  They  labored  hard,  but 
the  wind  blowing  fiercely  at  the  time,  in  spite  of 
their  utmost  exertions,  she  went  to  the  bottom. 
Fortunately  they  were  good  swimers,  and  in  an 
almost  frozen  state  they  succeeded  in  reaching  the 
shore.  They  were  providentially  found  senseless 
on  the  beach  at  midnight,  by  some  men  who  were 
on  a  gunning  excursion,  and  the  proper  means 
being  applied,  were  resuscitated. 

During  the  first  season  on  the  farm,  Mr.  Hamblin 
raised  a  good  crop,  which  encouraged  him  to  make 
large  preparations  for  the  following  years.  But, 
alas  for  human  hopes !  Being  absent  from  home  a 
few  days  on  business,  he  returned  to  behold  his 
house  and  other  buildings  in  ashes !  His  furniture, 
provisions,  clothes,  &c,  were  consumed ;  his  fences 
down,  his  fields  entirely  run  over,  and  his  crops 
ruined. 

With  a  sad  heart,  he  sold  his  farm,  and  com- 
enced  the  world  anew,  the  payment  of  his  debts 

*  He  was  on  George's  shoals  in  that  memorable  storm  when  so  large 
a  number  of  fishing  vessels  and  lives  were  lost  on  those  shoals. 

43 


3  38  STURTIVANT    J.    HAMBLIN. 

having  taken  every  dollar.  He  had  depended  upon 
an  insurance  upon  his  house,  but  from  some  flaw 
in  the  policy,  the  company  refused  to  pay  the  loss. 

Being,  however,  much  esteemed  by  his  friends, 
they  furnished  him  with  sufficient  means  to  re- 
move with  his  family  to  Boston,  Massachusetts. 
And  in  1839,  we  find  him  with  his  wife  and  children 
in  a  strange  city,  with  only  five  dollars  in  the 
world.  The  second  day,  however,  after  his  arrival, 
he  obtained  a  sitter  for  a  small  portrait,  which  gave 
such  satisfaction,  that  in  a  short  time  he  had  abun- 
dance of  work. 

Thus  encouraged,  he  resolved  never  again  to  re- 
linquish his  favorite  study.  He  accordingly  hired 
a  shop  in  a  business  part  of  the  city,  and  commenced 
business  as  a  landscape  and  portrait  painter.  In 
this,  he  has  succeeded  beyond  his  most  sanguine 
expectations.  Many  a  hall  in  Boston  and  other 
cities  is  embellished  with  his  landscapes  and  por- 
traits of  leading  men,  affording  illustrations  of  the 
power  of  perseverance,  even  under  the  most  dis- 
advantageous circumstances.  Thus  in  seven  years 
he  has  accumulated  a  very  handsome  property, 
besides  honorably  discharging  every  claim  against 
him,  and  returning  the  money  so  nobly  loaned  him 
by  his  friends  in  the  dark  hour  of  adversity. 

The  last  painting  of  note,  executed  by  him,  is 
the  Crucifixion,  designed  for  St.  Nicholas's  Church, 
East  Boston,  for  which  he  received  the  sum  of 
three  hundred  dollars.  This  painting  is  considered 
by  competent  judges,  to  be  equal  to  any  of  the 
kind  now  extant. 

Mr.  Hamblin  is  now  in  his  thirty-third  year.  His 
whole  time  is  devoted  to  the  arts,  and  if  his  life 
should  be  spared,  we  may  safely  predict  a  shining 
future. 


PETER    C.    BROOKS.  339 


PETER  C.  BROOKS. 

z~W^  NE  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of  his  age, 
and  who  accumulated  an  immense  fortune 
by  his  own  industry,  was  born  in  the  town 
v^of  North  Yarmouth,  Maine,  in  1765.  He  was 
jk  a  nephew  of  Colonel  Brooks,  of  revolutionary 
memory,  who  was  afterwards  governor  of  Mas- 
sachusetts. 

In  early  life,  Peter  C.  Brooks  married  a  daughter 
of  Nathaniel  Gorham  of  Charlestown,  the  brother 
of  Stephen  Gorham,  who  was  associated  with 
Phelps  in  the  Genesse  and  Holland  land  purchases. 
It  is  stated  that  Mr.  Brooks  made  the  bulk  of  his 
fortune  in  private  under-writing.  He  kept  a  private 
insurance  company,  on  the  corner  of  State  and 
Kilby  streets — the  old  house  known  in  revolutionary 
times  as  the  Bunch  of  Grapes.  This  house,  which 
has  been  pulled  down  within  our  remembrance, 
stood  nearly  opposite  Butcher's  Hall,  which  was 
the  royal  custom  house  at  the  time  of  the  Boston 
massacre,  in  1770. 

His  savings  were  always  carefully  invested.  Se- 
curity before  large  profit.  He  would  take  mortga- 
ges when  few  capitalists  would  touch  them,  on 
account  of  the  long  term  of  the  equity  of  redemp- 
tion— then  three  years.* 

He  was  afterwards  president  of  the  New  England 
insurance  office,  at  the  corner  of  Exchange  and 
State  streets.  Mr.  Brooks  occupied  for  years  a  sub- 
stantial old-fashioned  house  in  town,  on  the  corner 
of  Atkinson  and  Purchase  streets.  In  1839,  soon 
after  the  nomination  of  Harrison  to  the  presidency, 
Mr.  Brooks  heard  that  Daniel  Webster  was  going 
abroad  for  a   few  months,  and  wished  to  sell  his 

*  New  York  Paper. 


340  PETER    C.    BROOKS. 

town  house  on  the  corner  of  High  and  Summer 
streets. 

"What  does  he  ask  for  it?"  enquired  Mr.  Brooks. 

"  Thirty-five  thousand  dollars,"  was  the  reply. 

"It  is  ten  thousand  dollars  more  than  the  house 
is  worth,"  said  Mr.  Brooks,  "  but  if  Webster  wants 
to  go  abroad,  he  must  have  the  money,  I  suppose; 
so  I'll  buy  the  house." 

He  accordingly  concluded  the  purchase  and 
moved  into  the  Webster  house. 

Mr.  Brooks's  country  house  was  in  Medford,  and 
had  attached  to  it  a  large  and  well  cultivated  farm. 
He  died  in  the  84th  year  of  his  age. 

Mr.  Brooks  has  left  four  sons  and  three  daughters. 
The  eldest  son,  Edward,  resembles  in  his  frugality 
and  close  attention  to  business,  William  B.  Astor. 
Another  son,  is  a  wealthy  merchant  of  the  city  of 
New  York.  One  of  the  daughters  married  Edward 
Everett,  who  was  governor  of  Massachusetts  from 
1836  to  1838,  minister  to  the  court  of  St.  James, 
under  the  Harrison  and  Tyler  administration,  and 
late  president  of  Harvard  university.  A  second 
daughter  is  the  wife  of  Rev.  Dr.  Frothingham,  a 
learned  and  eloquent  clergyman  of  the  unitarian 
denomination.  The  third  daughter  married  Charles 
Francis  Adams,  the  son  of  John  Quincy  Adams. 

Daring  the  period  of  his  long  life,  the  deceased 
practiced  most  untiring  industry,  and  every  good 
quality  that  can  distinguish  the  citizen  and  the 
man.  He  was  several  times  elected  to  the  legisla- 
ture of  Massachusetts;  in  which  body,  though  not 
a  public  speaker,  or  an  ostentatious  figurer,  he  was 
regarded  as  a  man  of  practical  sound  sense,  and  as 
a  patriot  sincerely  devoted  to  the  institutions  of  his 
country.  He  was  modest  in  his  demeanor,  kind  to 
all;  and  no  man  who  accidentally  came  in  contact 
with  him,  would  have  supposed  he  was  the  pos- 
sessor ofmillions.  As  he  was  modest  and  unpretend- 
ing, so  was  he  proof  against   the  artifices   of   the 


OLIVER   W.    HOLMES.  341 

sycophant  and  flatterer.    He  had  no  vanity  to  gratify, 
no  ambition  to  indulge. 

In  all  his  intercourse  and  relations  with  the 
world,  he  maintained  for  himself  the  characteristics 
of  a  man.  His  vast  estates  were  the  result  of 
honest  industry,  perseverance,  and  economy.  He 
died  honored  and  beloved  by  the  citizens  of  Boston — 
by  the  people  of  his  native  town — by  all  who  knew 
him. 


OLIVER  WENDELL  HOLMES. 

FEW  centuries  ago,  the  clergy  were 
entrusted  with  the  care  of  the  health 
of  the  community,  either  because  the 
healing  art  was  held  in  such  respect 
that  it  was  thought  derogatory  to  its 
dignity  to  suffer  laymen  to  perform  the  high 
duties  of  so  noble  a  profession,  or  because  the 
lucrative  nature  of  a  medical  monopoly  was 
as  well  understood  by  the  church  in  the  dark  ages, 
as  it  is  by  the  college  in  these  enlightened  times. 
The  faculty,  however,  nourished  in  the  cloister,  and 
the  learned  monk  and  the  skilful  leech  were  one 
and  the  same  person.  A  great  deal  of  good,  and, 
no  doubt,  a  certain  quantity  of  evil,  resulted  from 
the  couibination  of  the  two  vocations;  of  the  good, 
it  is  sufficient  to  remember  that  the  clergy  acquired 
a  two-fold  claim  to  the  gratitude,  and  also  to  the 
generosity,  of  the  public ;  of  the  evil,  we  need  only 
reflect  on  the  extent  of  the  influence  conjoined — of 
the  priest  and  the  physician — to  tremble  at  the 
power  as  well  as  the  result  of  their  coalition.  We 
know  not,  however,  whether  this  evil  may  not  have 
been  counterbalanced,  in  some  degree,  by  the  ad- 


342  OLIVER   W.    HOLMES. 

vantage  of  the  superior  opportunities  afforded  the 
medical  divine,  of  distinguishing  the  nature  of  moral 
maladies  combined  with  physical,  or  confounded 
with  them ;  and  of  discovering  the  source  of  those 
anomalies  in  both,  which  puzzle  the  separate  con- 
sideration of  the  doctor,  and  the  divine.  Plato,  in- 
deed, says  that  "all  the  diseases  of  the  body  proceed 
from  the  soul ;"  if  such  were  the  case,  physic  should 
prefer  the  service  of  theology  to  the  ministry  of  na- 
ture. But  the  quaintest  of  authors,  and  at  the  same 
time  most  orthodox  of  churchmen,  dissents  from 
the  opinion  of  the  philosopher.  "Surely,"  he  says, 
"if  the  body  brought  an  action  against  the  soul,  the 
soul  would  certainly  be  cast  and  convicted,  that,  by 
her  supine  negligence,  had  caused  such  inconveni- 
ence, having  authority  over  the  body."  Be  this  as 
it  may,  Time,  the  oldest  radical,  who  revolutionizes 
all  things,  has  remodeled  the  constitution  of  physic : 
the  divine  has  ceased  to  be  a  doctor :  and  Taste,  no 
less  innovatory  than  Time,  has  divested  the  former 
of  his  cowl,  and  the  latter  of  his  wig ;  but  science, 
it  is  to  be  hoped,  has  gained  by  the  division  of  its 
labors,  as  well  as  by  the  change  of  its  costume. 

Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  was  born  on  the  29th  of 
August,  1809.  He  is  the  son  of  Abiel  Holmes,  a 
distinguished  clergyman,  who  died  in  1837. 

His  paternal  grandfather  was  David  Holmes,  a 
physician,  and  a  captain  in  the  army  during  the 
old  French  war.  His  maternal  grandfather  was 
the  Hon.  Oliver  Wendell,  a  descendant  of  the  Wen- 
dells of  Albany,  and  who  married  Mary  Jackson, 
the  daughter  of  Edward  Jackson,  of  Boston. 

Dr.  Holmes  studied  one  year  at  Phillip's  academy, 
Andover,  after  which  he  graduated  at  Harvard,  in 
1829.  He  studied  medicine  in  Boston,  and  com- 
pleted his  medical  education  by  a  residence  of  se- 
veral years  in  Europe,  where  he  had  access  to  all  the 
principal  hospitals,  and  acquired  that  practical  pro- 
fessional knowledge  for  which  he  is  so  celebrated. 


AMOS   DEAN.  343 

In  1836,  he  commenced  practice  in  Boston,  and 
in  two  years  afterwards,  he  was  chosen  professor  of 
anatomy  and  physiology,  in  the  medical  institute 
connected  with  Dartmouth  college. 

In  1840,  Professor  Holmes  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Miss  Amelia  Lee  Jackson,  daughter  of  the  Hon. 
Charles  Jackson,  by  whom  he  has  had  three  child- 
ren, two  sons  and  a  daughter.  In  that  year  he 
resigned  his  professorship  at  Dartmouth,  in  order  to 
reside  permanently  at  Boston. 

In  1847,  he  was  chosen  Barkman  professor  of 
anatomy  and  physiology  in  the  medical  school  of 
Harvard  college,  which  office  he  now  holds. 


AMOS  DEAN, 


rELEBRATED  as  a  lawyer,  and  so  well 
known  as  the  principal  originator  of  the  first 
Young  Men's  Association  in  America,  was 
born  at  Barnard,  a  wild  and  remote  region 
of  Vermont,  among  the  mountain  pines,  on  the 
16th  of  January,  1803.  At  that  time,  the  si- 
lence of  the  dense  forest  had  scarcely  been  broken. 
Not  a  mark  of  cultivation  was  to  be  seen  upon  it; 
and  the  bear  and  wolf  lived  unmolested.  The  few 
hardy  settlers  that  were  there,  dwelt  in  log  houses, 
the  only  guide  to  which,  in  most  cases,  was  marked 
trees,  or  the  coiling  smoke  which  ascended  from 
their  rude  chimneys. 

His  father  was  born  at  Hard  wick,  Massachusetts, 
in-  April,  1767,  and  twenty  years  afterwards  emi- 
grated to  Barnard.  The  maiden  name  of  his  mother 
was  Bhoda  Hammond;  she  was  the  daughter  of 
Jabez  Hammond,  and  was  born  at  New  Bedford, 
Massachusetts,  April  1771.  In  1778,  she  removed 
with  her  parents  to  Woodstock,  Vermont.     She  is 


344  AMOS    DEAN. 

the  direct  lineal  descendant  in  the  fifth  generation, 
from  Admiral  Penn,  whose  daughter  Elizabeth,  the 
sister  of  Sir  William  Penn,  married  William  Ham- 
mond of  London,  England,  and  who,  after  his  death 
in  1634,  removed  with  her  son  Benjamin  to  Boston, 
where  she  died  in  1640. 

The  parents  of  Mr.  Dean  were  married  in  1801, 
and  it  was  soon  after  that  event  that  they  settled 
on  the  wilderness  spot  where  he  was  born.  His 
father  purchased  the  land,  then  an  unbroken  forest, 
in  an  uneven,  hard-favored,  rocky  township,  for  the 
stipulated  sum  of  a  hundred  pounds  sterling.  A 
very  small  portion  of  the  purchase  money  was  paid 
down,  and  it  required  many  years  of  patient  indus- 
try to  realize  the  remainder.  In  due  time,  how- 
ever, the  whole  of  the  farm  was  cleared  and  paid 
for ; '  and  who  can  portray  the  satisfaction  with 
which  the  venerable  owner  surveyed  the  fruits  of  his 
industry !  The  secret  of  his  success  was  that  he 
was  not  ashamed  of  being  thought  poor. 

It  will  be  readily  imagined  that  in  such  an  iso- 
lated spot,  the  opportunities  of  mental  culture  were 
of  the  most  slender  kind.  Hence  the  subject  of  our 
sketch  enjoyed  no  early  school  facilities.  It  was, 
however,  his  good  fortune  to  be  blessed  with  a 
mother  of  high  intelligence  and  a  superior  mind. 
Having  in  her  early  years  been  a  school  teacher, 
she  carefully  fostered  the  strong  inclination  mani- 
fested by  her  son  for  the  acqusition  of  knowledge. 

"  How  sweet  is  the  recollection  in  after  years  of 
a  mother's  tender  training!  It  were  well  that  to  a 
mother  this  duty  should  be  confided,  if  it  were 
only  for  the  delicious  pleasure  of  musing  upon  it 
after  many  long  years  of  struggle  with  the  cold 
realities  of  life.  Who  is  there  that  finds  no  relief  in 
recurring  to  the  scenes  of  his  infancy  and  youth, 
gilded  with  the  recollection  of  a  mother's  love  and 
a  mother's  tenderness  ?  And  how  many  have  nobly 
owned  that  to  the  salutary  influence  then  exerted 


AMOS   DEAN.  345 

they  must  affectionately  ascribe  their  future  suc- 
cesses, their  avoidance  of  evil  when  no  eye  was 
upon  them,  bat  when  rested  on  the  heart,  the  warn- 
ings, the  prayers,  and  tears  of  a  mother  /" 

Warriors  and  statesmen  have  their  meed  of  praise; 

And  what  they  do  or  suffer  men  record ; 
But  the  long  sacrifice  of  woman's  days 

Passes  without  a  thought — without  a  word ; 
And  many  a  holy  struggle,  for  the  sake 

Of  duties  sternly,  faithfully  fulfilled — 
For  which  the  anxious  mind  must  watch  and  wake, 

And  the  strong  feelings  of  the  heart  be  stilled — 
Goes  by  unheeded  as  the  summer  wind, 

And  leaves  no  memory  and  no  trace  behind! 

A  subsequent  attendance  upon  a  district  school 
during  the  winter  months  for  several  years,  enabled 
young  Dean  to  acquire  the  rudiments  of  a  common 
education.  He  also  had  access  to  an  old  town 
library;  and  ardently  loving  knowledge  for  its  own 
sake,  he  there  acquired  a  great  portion  of  that  his- 
torical lore  for  which  he  is  now  so  celebrated. 
How  truly  says  Channing: 

"  It  is  chiefly  through  books  that  we  enjoy  inter- 
course with  superior  minds;  and  these  invaluable 
means  of  communication  are  in  the  reach  of  all. 
In  the  best  books  great  men  talk  to  us,  give  us 
their  most  precious  thoughts,  and  pour  their  souls 
into  ours.  God  be  thanked  for  books!  They  are 
the  voices  of  the  distant  and  the  dead,  and  make  us 
heirs  of  the  spiritual  life  of  past  ages.  Books  are 
the  true  levelers.  They  give  to  all  who  will  faith- 
fully use  them,  the  society,  the  spiritual  presence  of 
the  best  and  greatest  of  our  race.  No  matter  how 
poor  I  am ;  no  matter  though  the  prosperous  of  my 
own  time  will  not  enter  and  take  up  their  abode 
under  my  roof— if  Milton  will  cross  my  threshold 
to  sing  to  me  of  Paradise;  and  Shakspeare  to  open 
to  me  worlds  of  imagination  and  the  workings  of 
the  human  heart;  and  Franklin  to  enrich  me  with 
his  practical  wisdom,  I  shall  not  pine  for  intellectual 
companionship,  and  I  may  become  a  cultivated 
44 


346  AMOS    DEAN. 

man,  though  excluded  from  what  is  called  the  best 
society  in  the  place  where  I  live." 

In  his  eighteenth  year,  while  laboring  upon  the 
farm,  he  managed  to  learn  the  Greek  and  Latin 
languages.  His  plan  was  to  write  his  daily  lesson 
on  a  piece  of  birch  bark,  which  he  kept  in  his  hat. 
What  a  lesson  does  this  teach  to  our  young  men, 
who,  with  every  advantage,  accomplish  so  little. 
What  industry,  what  perseverance  did  the  conduct 
of  this  youth  evince.  With  no  complainings  of 
fatigue,  with  no  duly  neglected,  he  worked  in 
silence,  and  in  the  face  of  every  difficulty  he  achiev- 
ed a  moral  triumph.  While  many  were  sporting 
their  precious  time  in  idleness  and  dissipation,  he 
was  digging  down  for  "wealth  of  bright  and  burning 
thought,"  and  discovering  treasures  of  more  value 
than  rubies. 

Having  earned  sufficient  money  by  teaching 
school  during  the  winter,  Mr.  Dean  spent  a  short 
time  at  the  academy  in  Randolph,  Vermont. 

In  1825,  being  desirous  of  entering  the  senior 
class  of  Union  college,  a  difficulty  presented  itself, 
which  was,  that  his  father  was  legally  entitled  to 
his  services  on  the  farm  until  the  age  of  twenty- 
one.  The  point  was,  however,  amicably  settled; 
the  consideration  being,  a  release  to  the  father  of 
all  claim  the  son  might  have  to  the  property  as  heir 
at  law.  Mr.  Dean  has  frequently  alluded  to  this  as 
one  of  the  best  bargains  he  ever  made  in  his  life. 

Having  graduated  with  honor  in  1826,  Mr.  Dean 
returned  to  his  native  town.  In  the  autumn  of  that 
year,  on  the  invitation  of  his  maternal  uncle,  the 
Hon.  Jabez  Hammond,  (author  of  the  Political 
History  of  New  York,)  he  removed  to  Albany  and 
entered  the  office  of  the  Jatter  as  a  student  of  law. 
Of  the  kindness  of  this  relative  Mr.  Dean  has  fre- 
quently spoken,  observing,  that  had  it  not  been  for 
his  substantial  aid,  the  many  trials  and  difficulties 
which  presented  themselves  never  could  have  been 


AMOS   DEAN.  347 

surmounted.  Had  every  man  possessed  of  the 
means,  imitated  this  example,  how  much  talent 
might  have  been  discovered!  How  many  gems 
made  visible  by  their  glittering,  would  have  been 
collected !  How  many  mines  of  beauty  and  rich- 
ness would  have  appeared! 

In  May  1829,  Mr.  Dean  was  admitted  an  attor- 
ney of  the  supreme  court  of  the  state  of  New  York; 
since  which  period  he  has  continued  to  reside  at 
Albany;  and  with  what  success  in  his  profession  it 
is  needless  to  say,  as  the  numerous  important  cases 
with  which  he  is  constantly  entrusted  will  speak 
for  themselves. 

In  April,  1833,  Mr.  Dean  delivered  the  annual 
address  before  the  Albany  institute.  The  subject 
was  the  philosophy  of  history.  The  address  was 
printed  and  extensively  copied  by  the  press.  It 
was  in  the  fall  of  that  year,  that  his  attention  was 
drawn  to  the  principle  of  association,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  social,  moral,  and  intellectual  improvement; 
and  he  succeeded  in  getting  up,  and  establishing 
upon  a  permanent  footing,  the  Young  Men's  asso- 
ciation for  mutual  improvement,  in  the  city  of  Al- 
bany. This  is  justly  claimed  to  be  the  first  institu- 
tion of  the  kind,  that  ever  existed  in  this  country. 
Of  the  fruits  which  it  has  already  borne,  and  of  the 
many  prominent  public  men,  who,  but  for  its  bene- 
fical  influence,  would  have  remained  in  obscurity, 
it  is  unnecessary  to  speak. 

Mr.  Dean  was  its  first  president,  and  reelected 
for  a  second  term.  The  institution  has  been  incor- 
porated, and  is  in  a  very  flourishing  condition,  and 
associations  of  a  similar  character  are  now  in 
operation  in  nearly  all  the  cities  and  villages  in  the 
state. 

In  1840,  Mr.  Dean  presided  at  a  convention  of 
Young  Men's  associations  of  the  state  of  New  York, 
held  at  Utica.  The  result  was,  an  organization  of 
the  whole  into  a  state  association,  of  which  Mr. 


348  AMOS    DEAN. 

Dean  was  elected  preisdent,  and  he  delivered  the 
first  annual  address. 

Some  years  since,.  Mr.  Dean  delivered  before  the 
Albany  association,  a  very  interesting  course  of  lec- 
tures,  on  the  subject  of  phrenology.  The  lectures 
were  published,  and  furnished  an  ample  theme  for 
discussion,  among  that  class  who  are  apt  to  con- 
demn every  thing  that  is  new.  In  1839,  he  had 
published  in  Boston,  the  Philosophy  of  Human  Life, 
being  an  investigation  of  the  great  elements  of  life. 
This  was  a  very  elaborate  work,  but  adapted  to  a 
class  of  readers  and  thinkers,  not  very  numerous  in 
this  country.  He  also  published  a  very  valuable 
practical  work,  entitled  a  Manual  of  Law,  for  the 
use  of  business  men. 

On  the  5th  of  October,  1840,  Mr.  Dean  delivered 
before  the  State  Agricultural  society  a  eulogy  on 
the  occasion  of  the  death  of  the  late  Jesse  Buel,  and 
which  was  afterwards  printed  by  the  society.  In 
July,  1840,  he  delivered  the  first  annual  address  be- 
fore the  senate  of  Union  college. 

In  the  fall  and  winter  of  1838  and  1839,  he  was 
instrumental,  with  some  others,  in  establishing  the 
Albany  Medical  college.  At  the  commencement  of 
that  institution,  Mr.  Dean  received  the  appointment 
of  professor  of  medical  jurisprudence,  a  department 
in  which  he  has  continued  to  lecure  at  every  term 
since  its  organization.  In  1840,  Prof.  Dean  pub- 
lished a  Manual  of  Medical  Jurisprudence,  disigned 
solely  for  the  use  of  the  classes  attending  his  lec- 
tures. 

On  the  14th  of  September,  1842,  Prof.  Dean  was 
married  to  Miss  E.  Joana  Davis,  of  Uxbridge,  Mas- 
sachusetts. 

Mr.  Dean  has  long  been  a  liberal  patron  of  litera- 
ture and  the  arts.  He  is  one  of  those  who  do  not 
believe  that  to  eat,  drink  and  sleep,  to  pace  around 
in  the  circle  of  habit,  and  bend  the  whole  soul  in 
the  pursuit  of  wealth,  is  life ;  but  that  knowledge, 


FRANK    H.    HAMILTON.  349 

truth,  beauty,  goodness  and  faith  alone,  can  give 
vitality  to  the  mechanism  of  existence;  and  that 
the  laugh  of  mirth  which  vibrates  through  the 
heart,  the  tears  that  freshen  the  dry  wastes  within, 
the  music  that  brings  childhood  back,  the  prayer 
that  call  the  future  near,  the  doubt  which  makes  us 
meditate,  the  death  which  startles  us  with  mystery, 
the  hardship  that  forces  us  to  struggle,  the  anxiety 
that  ends  in  trust — are  the  true  nourishment  that 
ends  in  being. 

We  will  conclude  this  sketch  with  the  observa- 
tion, that  "a  good  name,  founded  on  real  worth  of 
character,  is  of  more  value  than  riches;  and  better 
is  it  for  a  young  man  to  begin  the  world  pennyless, 
with  this  in  possession,  than  to  be  the  owner  of 
large  estates,  and  the  inheritor  of  paternal  fame, 
with  neither  the  disposition  nor  the  ability  to  main- 
tain them.  There  is  no  truer  maxim  than  this,  that 
every  man  is  the  maker  of  his  own  fortune.  He 
can  not  become  wise,  nor  good,  nor  great,  by  proxy: 
and  the  earlier  he  is  made  to  believe,  and  act  upon 
the  truth,  the  better." 


FRANK  HASTINGS  HAMILTON. 

OCTOR  HAMILTON,  was  born  at  Wil- 
„. j  mington,  Vermont,  on  the  10th  of  Sep- 
M}&Ly  tember,  1813.  Four  years  afterwards,  his 
parents  removed  to  Schenectady,  in  the 
state  of  New  York,  where  his  career  may  be 
said  to  have  commenced.  After  pursuing  the 
usual  preparatory  studies,  under  the  superintend- 
ance  of  a  most  excellent  teacher,  now  a  distin- 
guished divine  in  the  city  of  Brooklyn,  he  was 
matriculated  a  member  of  the  sophomore  class  in 
Union  college.     This  was  in  1827,  he  being  then 


350  FRANK   H.    HAMILTON. 

only  fourteen  years  of  age.  In  college,  although 
his  standing  in  all  the  departments  of  learning 
was  good,  he  did  not  distinguish  himself,  except 
by  his  proficiency  in  the  classics.  The  gentleman 
from  whom  the  materials  for  this  sketch  were  ob- 
tained, was  a  fellow  student  with  Frank,  and 
chiefly  remembers  him  as  a  pale  and  pensive  boy, 
who  loved  retirement,  and  who  appeared  to  take 
no  interest  in  the  rude  sports  of  his  companions. 
During  the  intervals  of  study  he  might  frequently 
be  seen  rambling  solitarily  about  the  fields,  or 
gathering  specimens  in  botany  and  mineralogy, 
for  which  sciences  he  had,  even  at  that  time,  an 
ardent  love. 

Having  graduated  with  honor  in  1830,  he  entered 
the  office  of  Doctor  John  G.  Morgan,  surgeon  to 
the  state  prison,  at  Auburn,  N.Y.  Here,  with  the 
exception  of  occasional  absences  in  attending  med- 
ical lectures,  he  remained  three  years  in  the  dili- 
gent prosecution  of  his  professional  studies.  During 
the  whole  period,  while  at  home,  he  was  in  daily 
attendance  on  the  prison  hospital.  Here  he  had 
constant  opportunity,  which  he  did  not  fail  to  im- 
prove, of  witnessing  and  participating  in  the  dis- 
section of  the  human  subject.  With  such  enthu- 
siasm did  he  devote  himself  to  the  acquirement  of 
knowledge,  that  he  repeatedly  made  drawings  in 
oil,  and  of  the  size  of  life,  of  almost  every  part 
of  the  human  body.  With  such  zeal  and  industry, 
to  have  failed  in  being  an  ornament  to  his  profes- 
sion would  have  been  a  miracle. 

Doctor  Hamilton  was  licensed  to  practice  medi- 
cine and  surgery,  by  the  Cayuga  county  medical 
society,  in  1833.  Two  years  subsequently,  he  re- 
ceived the  degree  of  M.  D.,  at  the  university  of 
Pennsylvania. 

While  a  student  in  Auburn,  his  medical  precep- 
tor, Dr.  Morgan,  gave  many  lectures  on  anatomy, 
on  several  of  which  occasions,  the  subject  of  our 


FRANK   H.    HAMILTON.  351 

sketch  added  a  demonstration,  or  recapitulated  the 
preceptor's  lectures  before  the  class.  Such  was  his 
success  in  this  first  attempt  at  teaching,  that  when 
shortly  afterwards  Dr.  Morgan  accepted  a  chair  at 
the  Geneva  medical  college,  by  request,  he  himself 
gave  a  course  of  lectures  on  anatomy  and  surgery 
with  great  approbation  to  a  class  of  sixteen.  On 
repeating  the  course  on  the  following  year,  the 
class  increased  to  thirty-one. 

These  private  lectures  were  continued  until  1838, 
and  so  great  was  the  reputation  he  had  acquired  by 
them,  that  in  1839,  without  any  solicitation  on  his 
part,  and  much  to  his  suprise,  he  was  unanimously 
appointed  by  the  regents  of  the  university  of  the 
state  of  New  York,  to  fill  the  vacant  chair  as  pro- 
fessor of  surgery  in  the  college  of  physicians  and 
surgeons  of  western  New  York. 

Here,  while  he  Avas  little  more  than  a  boy,  he 
found  himself  associated  with  such  men  as  Romeyn, 
Beck,  James  Hadley,  James  McNaughton,  and 
others,  and  was  in  all  his  intercourse  with  them, 
honored  with  their  highest  confidence  and  respect. 

In  184  0,  Professor  Hamilton  received  and  ac- 
cepted an  invitation  to  the  professorship  of  surgery 
in  the  medical  college  at  Geneva,  the  duties  of  this 
station  he  discharged  with  great  ability  for  eight 
years.  Having,  however,  in  1846,  accepted  the 
same  professorship  in  the  new  medical  college  at 
Buffalo,  and  after  filling  both  stations  for  two  years, 
he  in  1S48,  resigned  the  chair  at  Geneva,  for  the 
purpose  of  devoting  himself  to  his  profession  and 
the  professorship  at  Buffalo.  He  is  now  dean  of 
the  medical  faculty  of  the  university  of  Buffalo, 
and  surgeon  to  the  Buffalo  hospital  of  the  sisters 
of  charity,  the  duties  of  which  station  he  performs 
with  his  characteristic  energy,  and  with  great  and 
growing  popularity,  besides  attending  to  a  large 
and  steadily  increasing  city  practice. 

In  addition  to  his  other  labors,  Dr.  Hamilton  has 


352  FRANK   H.    HAMILTON. 

found  time  to  write  occasionally  for  the  press.  He 
is  the  author  of  an  excellent  monograph  on  the  sub- 
ject of  strabismus,  and  of  a  caustic  and  powerful 
pamphlet  vindicating  the  science  of  metaphysics 
against  the  doctrines  of  Gall.  He  has  written  nu- 
merous articles  for  the  medical  journals,  and  report- 
ed a  great  variety  of  interesting  and  important  cases 
in  surgery. 

During  the  year  1844,  he  visited  Europe,  taking 
in  his  way  nearly  all  the  principal  cities  of  the  con- 
tinent and  of  the  British  islands,  for  the  purpose  of 
examining  the  hospitals  and  of  enlarging  by  pur- 
chases the  museum  of  the  Geneva  medical  college. 
On  his  return  he  published  an  account  of  his  observ- 
ations in  about  twenty  successive  numbers  of  the 
Buffalo  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal.  These 
papers  are  full  of  interest  and  well  worthy  of  a  stu- 
dious perusal.*     He  has  cultivated  general  litera- 

*In  an  account  of  his  visit  to  Palermo,  Sicily,  he  says:  "It  can  not  he 
supposed  that  in  such  a  country  the  science  of  medicine  has  made  much 
progress.  Medical  students  go  abroad  to  receive  their  education,  and 
although  several  physicians  and  surgeons  in  Palermo  deservedly  hold  a 
high  rank,  yet  they  complain  of  the  successful  rivalry  of  the  priests,  and 
the  '  Salassatori.'  The  priests,  or  what  is  equivalent,  his  holy  relic,  often 
obtains  the  credit  of  the  cure,  even  when  a  regular  physician  is  employed. 
The  Salassatori  are  found  in  almost  every  street;  the  shops  being  indi- 
cated by  a  barber's  pole,  two  large  copper  basins  and  a  horse  tail;  occa- 
sionally, also  by  a  vile  painting  representing  a  Seneca,  throwing  blood 
like  a  jet  d'eau "from  a  dozen  orifices.  Within,  is  a  swarthy  Sicilian,  who 
will  furnish  you  salves  for  ulcers,  cancers  and  tumors,  will  leech  and  pull 
teeth,  will  bind  up  your  wounds  and  mend  your  bones,  will  bleed  jou  by 
the  ounce,  Avill  shave,  cut  hair  and  point  your  imperial.  These  are  the 
veritable  representatives  of  the  ancient  barber  surgeons,  whose  ensign  in 
the  twelfth  century  was  a  pole  wrapt  with  a  red  roller,  supported  by  two 
basins;  of  which  honorable  fraternity  the  great  Pare  boasted  himself  a 
member,  and  from  which  the  present  royal  stock  of  surgeons  are  lineal 
descendants.  It  is  therefore  that  I  have  examined  the  more  in  detail 
these  establishments,  one  of  which  1  entered  and  explored  entirely  to  my 
satisfaction;  which  done,  I  requested  the  surgeon  to  bleed  me.  'How 
many  ounces,  Signorc?'  'Six.'  'Where?'  '  In  the  arm.'  Immediately 
I  was  divested  of  my  coat — my  hand  was  made  to  grasp  the  top  of  an 
upright  rod,  supported  by  three  h^s— my  sleeve  was  turned  up  smoothly 
and  "tenderly  above  the  elbow— the  blood  red  fillet  was  then  applied  in 
a  most  artistical  manner,  a  spear  pointed  lancet  selected  from  the  arsenal, 
and  already  was  the  thirsty  weapon  glittering  in  the  air,  when  1  withdrew 
my  arm,  and  declared  myself  satisfied.  It  was  as  a  pupil  and  not  as  a 
patient,  that  I  had  entered  the  office  of  the  descendant  of  my  lathers. 
Francesco  paid  him  the  two  carlini,  and  we  went  on." 


FRANK   H.    HAMILTON.  353 

ture  more  perfect  than  most  of  his  brethren,  and  all 
the  productions  of  his  pen,  besides  being  full  of 
thought  and  vigor,  are  specimens  of  neat  and  taste- 
ful composition. 

Dr.  Hamilton  is  of  about  a  middling  stature,  of 
tolerably  robust  health,  with  a  frame  well  knit  and 
compacted,  of  a  nervous  temperament,  quick  in  all 
his  motions,  and  one  whose  whole  appearance  indi- 
cates mental  and  bodily  activity  with  extraordinary 
powers  of  endurance. 

As  a  man,  he  is  possessed  of  great  amiability 
of  temper,  remarkably  agreeable  in  his  unreserved 
intercourse  with  his  friends,  and  full  of  sparkling 
and  glowing  conversation,  enriched  with  varied 
anecdotes  and  great  information  on  all  subjects. 
His  habits  are  singularly  unostentatious,  and  his 
manner  of  life  simple  and  abstemious.  He  is  also 
a  consistent  member  of  the  presbyterian  church. 

As  a  lecturer  he  possesses  qualities  of  the  very 
highest  order,  having  received  from  nature  the  most 
favorable  endowments,  in  a  capacious  and  ready 
memory,  a  lively  imagination,  and  a  fluent  speech, 
all  of  which  he  has  sedulously  and  successfully  cul- 
tivated. In  his  lecture  room  he  never  uses  paper, 
and  it  is  believed  that  his  lectures  are  not  written. 
Yet  he  never  hesitates  for  an  idea  or  for  a  word. 
He  never,  or  very  rarely,  finds  it  necessary  to  repeat 
a  sentence,  but  from  the  beginning  to  its  close,  his 
lecture  flows  on  as  a  steady  and  transparent  stream. 
He  has  the  power  of  presenting  every  thought  at 
the  first  stroke,  with  a  clearness  which  stupidity 
itself,  if  it  can  not  assent,  can  not  fail  to  comprehend ; 
and  what  is  most  of  all  remarkable  in  him,  is  the 
singular  ease  with  which  he  infuses  into  his  other- 
wise dry  anatomical  discussions,  an  interest  derived 
from  his  anecdotes  of  surgical  practice,  that  arrests 
and  chains  the  attention  of  all  his  auditors. 

As  a  practical  operator,  it  is  believed  he  has  no 
superior  of  his  own  age. 
45 


354  JOHN  K.  HALE. 

la  1835,  Dr.  Hamilton  received  the  prize  for  the  best  essay  on  the 
fevers  of  the  western  country.  It  Mas  published  in  Drake's  Medical 
Journal,  at  Cincinnati.  At  the  time  he  had  never  been  west  of  Roches- 
ter, and  had  seen  scarcely  any  cases  of  the  class  of  fevers  upon  which  he 
wrote.  His  only  object  in  contending  for  the  prize,  was  to  get  the  $25, 
of  which  he  was  then  much  in  need. 

In  1840  Dr.  Hamilton  had  accumulated  by  his  own  exertions,  a  hand- 
some fortune,  but  lost  it  in  speculation,  besides  incurring  a  considerable 
debt.  But  although  cast  down,  he  was  not  destroyed,  for  with  the  energy 
of  a  determined  will,  he  commenced  retrieving  his  losses;  and  unlike  so 
many  others,  scorning  to  avail  himself  of  the  benefit  of  the  law,  he  has,  it 
is  believed,  succeeded  in  discharging  every  obligation. 

It  has  been  truly  said  that  all  the  young  men  have  to  be  ruined  once — 
if  they  begin  rich  or  prosperous.  Nothing  but  a  miracle  can  save  them. 
They  either  get  married  before  they  can  afford  the  luxury  of  a  wife — or 
fail,  and  then,  and  not  till  then,  are  they  good  for  any  thing.  Men  are 
not  made  by  coaxing.  They  seldom  thrive  long  on  sugar  plums.  To  be 
men  they  must  rough  it.  And  the  sooner  they  begin  the  better.  Oaks 
are  rooted  in  wind  and  storm.  Oaks  therefore  are  trustworthy.  Hot- 
house plants  come  up  in  a  few  days — and  perish  accordingly. 

Look  about  you,  and  you  will  hardly  find  an  eminent  or  rich  man,  who 
has  not  been  at  some  period  of  life  a  bankrupt  either  in  health  or  pro- 
perty.  Such  men,  having  learned  by  God's  providences  the  value  of 
what  they  have  lost,  being  undiscouraged,  have  always  found  themselves 
strengthened  by  their  fell. 


JOHN  K.  HALE 

S  a  descendant  of  the  great  and  good  Sir 
Matthew  Hale;  the  family  in  England  being 
now  represented  by  Robert  Blagden  Hale, 
member  of  parliament  for  Alderly  Walton, 
Gloucestershire.  Of  such  a  stock,  the  family 
in  this  country  are  justly  excusable  in  occa- 
sionally exhibiting  to  their  friends  a  family  memento 
of  their  celebrated  ancestor,  in  the  shape  of  an  old 
volume  of  sermons,  now  in  the  possession  of  Horatio 
Reed,  Esquire,  of  Greene  county,  New  York,  one  of 
the  Hale  family,  in  which  is  the  veritable  autograph 
of  Sir  Matthew  Hale.  As  it  is  considered  the  com- 
mon property  of  the  family,  it  frequently  changes  its 
locality,  but  never  its  family  guardians. 

The  mother  of  John  K.  Hale  was  a  daughter  of 


JOHN   K.    HALE.  355 

the  late  Doctor  David  Jones,  of  North  Yarmouth, 
Maine,  who  was  a  student  of  the  patriot  Warren, 
and  was  by  the  side  of  that  hero  when  he  fell  at 
Bunker  Hill. 

His  paternal  grandmother  was  a  Knowlton,  a  sis- 
ter of  Colonel  Knowlton,  who  fell  at  the  battle  of 
Cowpens,  during  the  revolutionary  war.  His  pater- 
nal grandfather  was  cousin  to  Captain  Nathaniel 
Hale. 

John  K.  Hale  was  born  in  North  Maine,  in  1807, 
but  spent  the  early  portion  of  his  life  at  Portland,  in 
that  state.  In  1828,  he  married  a  daughter  of  J. 
Hall,  Esquire,  of  the  latter  place,  and  is  consequently 
a  brother-in-law,  by  marriage,  of  the  eccentric  John 
Neale,  of  Portland,  whose  wife  and  Mrs.  Hale  are 
sisters. 

Mr.  Hale  had  the  good  fortune  to  study  law  under 
that  sound  jurist,  the  Hon.  William  G.  Angel,  the 
present  chief  judge  of  Allegany  county,  New  York; 
and  it  is  needless  to  say  how  much  honor  he  has 
done  to  his  worthy  preceptor. 

Residing  at  Hornellsville,  in  Steuben  county,  in 
the  successful  practice  of  his  profession,  he  was,  in 
the  winter  of  1848,  elected  to  the  house  of  assembly, 
by  the  whigs  of  the  third  district.  Of  the  manly 
and  independent  course  pursued  by  him  while  in 
that  body,  it  is  not  necessary  to  refer,  as  his  votes 
are  on  record,  and* will  speak  for  themselves.  It 
will  be  sufficient  to  say,  that  he  has  uniformly  mani- 
fested an  interest  in  all  measures  connected  with 
the  real  prosperity  of  the  country. 

He  is  a  ready  debater,  and  possesses  a  large  fund 
of  miscellaneous  information.  To  this  is  added  a 
ready  wit  and  a  high  sense  of  humor. 

He  has  traveled  much,  both  by  land  and  by  sea, 
having  many  hair-breadth  escapes.  Hence  his 
knowledge  is  not  only  derived  from  books,  but  is 
the  fruit  of  his  own  experience. 


356  ROBERT    SEARS. 


ROBERT  SEARS, 

tUBLISHER  of  useful  and  moral  works,  has 
accomplished  more  real  good  than  many 
whom   the   world  calls   great,   but  whose 

&  path  has  been  strewn  with  the  bones  of  slaugh- 
tered multitudes. 
^         How  great  is  the  responsibility  of  the  man 
who   publishes  a  book!   and  who   shall   trace   its 
remote  consequences  for  weal  or  for  woe ! 

Unlike  those  of  many  of  his  contemporaries,  the 
works  published  by  Mr.  Sears  contain  no  impurity 
of  sentiment — no  serpent  lurking  beneath  flowers. 
In  his  writings  we  do  not  find  debauchery  deified, 
and  crime  portrayed  as  a  species  of  school  for  the 
education  of  beauty  and  virtue.  Unlike  certain 
favorite  foreign  authors  of  the  present  day,  he  does 
not  hold  up  passion  as  the  crowning  charm  of  an 
angel ;  riot  as  the  condition  of  social  happiness ;  sin 
as  a  misfortune  which  never  entails  its  ills  upon  its 
offspring;  monsters  as  the  universal  specimens  of 
the  human  species;  intrigue,  violence  and  wanton- 
ness as  the  sole  enjoyment  of  human  activity.  "O 
that  all  men  holding  such  positions  would  reflect 
upon  the  awful  responsibility,  and  consider  how 
great  is  the  power  of  written  thought  * 

Mr.  Sears  was  born  in  St.  Johns,  New  Brunswick, 
on  the  2Sth  of  June,  1810.  He  had  struggled  up, 
through  the  laborious  scenes  of  seven  years'  appren- 

*  What  the  Russians  think  of  authors  may  be  collected  from  a  plate,  in 
which  part  of  hell  is  represented.  In  the  foreground  are  suspended  two 
kettles  ;  in  one  of  them  is  a  robber,  in  the  other  an  immoral  writer. 
Under  the  kettle  of  the  latter  Satan  is  busily  engaged  in  making  arousing 
fire,  whereas  under  the  bandit  there  is  nothing  but  a  heap  of  dry  wood, 
and  he  seems  to  be  enjoying  a  comfortable  warmth.  The  author,  who 
has  lifted  up  the  lid  of  his  kettle  a  little,  casting  an  envious  "lance  at  the 
robber,  complains  to  the  devil  that  he  torments  him  more  than  so  vile  a 
criminal  :  but  the  devil  fetches  him  a  thump  on  the  head,  and  says, 
"  Thou  wert  worse  than  he,  for  his  sins  and  misdeeds  died  with  him, 
but  thine  continue  to  live  for  ages. — KofWs  Russia  and  the  Russians. 


O-^JXA 


ROBERT    SEARS.  357 

ticeship.  and,  with  a  mind  strengthened  by  a  solid 
English  education,  always  kept  in  view  the  great 
end  of  his  life ; — that  hope,  to  convert  the  gloomy 
press  into  an  engine  of  immense  good,  to  make  it  a 
messenger  of  knowledge  to  many  hundred  thousand 
homes,  and  have  the  children  of  a  future  age  say  of 
him,  this  was  not  the  hero  of  the  sword,  but  the 
apostle  of  the  printing  press. 

How  did  he  accomplish  it  ?  In  the  spring  of  the 
year  1832,  he  started  in  business,  and  supported  his 
family  by  printing  cards  and  circulars.  The  cho- 
lera came,  and  with  it  the  universal  panic  and  the 
tottering  of  all  public  confidence.  He  was  forced 
to  close  his  shop,  and  take  to  his  journeyman  life 
again. 

Still  in  this  time  of  unobtrusive  toil,  a  great  vision 
of  usefulness  opened  upon  him.  While  working  at 
the  press  and  case,  he  determined  to  become  a  pub- 
lisher. Without  capital,  without  the  praise  of  pomp- 
ous reviewers,  without  friends — save  the  generous 
few  attracted  by  his  unyielding  virtues — he  made 
up  his  mind  to  be  the  publisher  of  useful  books. 

He  calmly  laid  his  plan,  and  in  the  silence  of  the 
night,  after  the  day's  work  was  over,  matured  it 
into  shape.  He  determined  to  pursue  the  only 
legitimate  method  of  publication — to  advertise  his 
works,  place  them  thoroughly  before  the  people, 
and  leave  the  people  alone  to  decide  on  their  merits. 

The  cholera  passed,  and  he  resorted  to  his  press 
and  types  once  more.  In  the  short  intervals  snatch- 
ed from  severe  labor,  he  compiled  a  chart,  entitled, 
The  World  at  One  View,  placed  it  in  type,  published 
it  in  one  broad  sheet,  advertised  it  for  twelve  and  a 
half  cents,  and  was  rewarded  by  a  sale  of  about 
20,000  copies. 

This  was  a  good  beginning.  The  Family  Receipt 
Book  was  next  published,  met  with  a  rapid  sale, 
and  the  young  publisher  began  to  widen  his  plans, 
and  concentrate  his  resources  for  greater  efforts. 


358  ROBERT   SEARS. 

Undismayed  by  the  sneers  of  the  idle  and  thought- 
less, the  cold  approbation  of  doubtful  friends,  he 
then  projected  a  work  in  three  large  volumes,  copi- 
ously adorned  with  engravings,  and  entitled,  Picto- 
rial Illustrations  of  the  Bible.  This  required  immense 
labor,  and,  more  than  capital,  the  confidence  of  the 
public.  The  young  publisher  had  it.  For  pressing 
steadily  onward,  after  an  interval  of  several  years, 
he  issued  this  work  in  the  fall  of  1840 — risked  his 
all  on  it,  staked  every  cent  in  advertising  it  to  the 
whole  Union,  and  sold  25,000  copies.  Decidedly  a 
triumph  for  the  journeyman  printer  of  yesterday! 

Then  he  began  his  grand  mission  of  teaching  to 
nations  and  to  man,  by  the  medium  of  books,  in- 
tended to  be  useful  and  popular,  and  made  to  speak 
through  the  eye  to  the  heart,  by  appropriate  and 
vivid  pictorial  illustrations. 

It  is  that  branch  of  art  known  as  wood  engraving, 
which,  by  its  peculiar  qualities,  especially  presents 
itself  as  a  great  medium  of  pictured  thought.  It  is 
cheap,  available,  effective.  It  can  be  printed  with 
the  pages  of  a  book,  and  with  the  same  press.  It  is 
capable  of  rich  lights,  and  deep  shadows,  far  beyond 
the  power  of  copper  and  steel.  Robert  Sears  has 
called  to  his  aid  this  branch  of  art,  and  showed  its 
powers  in  his  Pictorial  Illustrations  of  the  Bible. 

The  name  of  Robert  Sears  began  to  grow  in  the 
minds  of  the  people,  and  the  homes  of  the  land 
learned  it  by  heart  in  his  numerous  works. 

We  might  draw  large  deductions  from  the  life  of 
Robert  Sears,  but  that  life  speaks  for  itself.  It  says 
to  every  young  man  in  the  union,  behold  the  fruits 
of  unswerving  integrity,  unstained  morals,  unyield- 
ing enterprise.  It  shows,  conclusively,  that  one 
man,  aided  by  his  own  hand,  may  emerge  from  a 
printing  office,  and  gather  the  harvest  of  his  long 
years  of  toil,  in  the  approbation  of  a  whole  people. 
It  asserts,  that  with  no  capital,  but  a  common  school 
education,  a  firm  heart,  and  an  honest  pair  of  hands, 


ROBERT    SEARS.  359 

a  young  man  may  carve  himself  a  glorious  way  to 
usefulness  and  fame. 

Mr.  Sears  published  several  months  ago  his  great- 
est work,  The  Pictorial  Domestic  Bible.  We  can  not 
bat  wish  him  success  in  it,  for  his  whole  heart  is 
engaged  in  the  enterprise ;  he  has  brought  the  hon- 
estly acquired  wealth  of  years  to  the  task,  and 
nerved  his  soul  to  its  successful  issue.  It  is  a  book 
for  the  pulpit,  the  home,  the  closet.  In  it  we  be- 
hold the  Bible  of  our  faith,  glowing  with  pictures 
that  reveal  to  us,  at  a  glance,  the  life,  the  history, 
the  poetry  of  the  Bible.  It  is  a  glorious  field — a 
holy  task. 

Chance  may  produce  a  notorious,  but  never  yet 
did  chance  produce  a  great  man.  No  man  can  be 
wise  or  good  without  labor.  Robert  Sears  is  a  firm 
believer  in  this  stern  truth,  and  upon  this  basis,  he 
has  arisen  to  usefulness  and  fame.  He  is  above  all 
sect  or  party.  His  creed  is  simple — it  can  be  under- 
stood at  a  glance,  for  it  is  love. 

We  must  confess  that  this  Robert  Sears  is  no 
ordinary  man.  His  books  have  become  household 
treasures  in  the  towns  and  farms  of  New  England. 
The  printed  results  of  his  research  and  industry, 
have  enlightened  the  log  cabins  of  the  west,  and 
penetrated  with  benevolent  light,  the  rude  homes 
of  Texas.  Throughout  Canada,  Nova  Scotia,  New 
Brunswick,  and  the  British  possessions  in  North 
America,  he  is  widely  and  favorably  known  as  the 
pioneer  of  a  better  age,  in  this  home  literature, 
adapted  for  the  sanctities  of  the  fireside. 

Even  the  queen  of  Great  Britain  has  welcomed 
his  labors  with  royal  applause,  and  stamped  his 
books  with  more  than  royal  approbation — with  the 
good  wishes  and  the  smile  of  a  woman  and  a  mother. 

It  must  be  gratifying  to  Mr.  Sears  to  reflect  that 
the  intelligence  of  the  kind  wishes  and  deserved 
approval  of  Victoria,  was  conveyed  to  him  in  an 
official  letter,  written  by  her  request. 


360  WILLIAM   M.    CORNELL. 

An  effective  contrast  might  be  drawn  between 
Robert  Sears  and  his  granduncle,  the  Rienzi  of  the 
revolution,  and  who  was  by  his  opponents  nick- 
named King  Sears.  The  latter  is  seen  in  the  dawn 
of  the  revolution  at  all  points,  now  marshalling  his 
soldiers  on  New  York  battery,  now  scattering  into 
atoms  the  infamous  tory  press  of  Rivington,  now 
boldly  advocating  the  assembling  of  a  continental 
congress.  A  sturdy  man,  nursed  into  familiarity 
with  danger  on  the  broad  ocean,  he  gathers  the 
people,  becomes  their  oracle,  prepares  the  way  for 
Washington  and  the  signers.  Altogether,  such  a 
man  as  the  Almighty  sends  to  do  a  great  work,  and 
then  retires  from  the  stage. 

The  descendant,  Robert  Sears,  emerges  from  the 
shadows  of  a  printing  office,  becomes  the  publisher 
of  a  people,  and  sends  copies  of  all  his  works  to 
queen  Victoria,  grand-daughter  of  George  the  III, 
whom  King  Sears  successfully  resisted  on  all  occa- 
sions. The  sovereign  of  the  same  nation,  which 
opposed  our  entrance  into  the  family  of  nations,  is 
happy  to  receive  American  books  from  a  descendant 
of  a  revolutionary  hero.* 


WILLIAM  M.  CORNELL. 

HIS  gentleman,  in  whom  are  united  the 
professions  of  physician  and  divine,  reminds 
us  of  the  following  pleasant  anecdote: 
The  late  Doctor  Channing  had  a  brother,  a 
'physician,  and  at  one  time  both  resided  in  Bos- 
ton. A  countryman  in  search  of  the  divine, 
knocked  at  the  physican's  door,  when  the  following 
dialogue  ensued : 

*  Lippard. 


WILLIAM   M.    CORNELL.  361 

Does  Dr.  Charming  live  here  ? 

Yes  sir. 

Can  I  see  him? 

I  am  he. 

Who,  you? 

Yes  sir. 

Why,  you  must  have  altered  considerably  since  I 
heard  you  preach. 

Heard  me  preach ! 

Certainly,  you  are  the  Dr.  Channing  that  preaches 
ain't  you? 

O !  I  see  you  are  mistaken  now.  It  is  my  brother 
who  preaches.     I  am  the  doctor  who  practices. 

Mr.  Mason  was  born  on  the  16th  of  October,  1802, 
in  the  town  of  Berkley,  Massachusetts.  His  father, 
who  was  a  physician,  was  William  Cornell  of 
Swansey,  Massachusetts.  His  mother  was  Abigail 
Briggs  of  Berkley,  in  the  same  state.  His  paternal 
grandfather  was,  Stephen  Cornell,  and  his  grand- 
mother was  Sarah  Buffington.  His  maternal  grand- 
parents were  Thomas  Briggs  and  Sarah  Philips. 

Mr.  Cornell,  the  subject  of  this  notice,  graduated 
with  honor  at  Brown  university,  in  1827.  He 
studied  theology  with  the  Rev.  Thomas  Andros  of 
Berkley,  and  the  Rev.  Timothy  Davis  of  Wellfleet. 
He  was  installed  pastor  of  the  Congregational  eh  arch 
in  Woodstock,  Connecticut,  on  the  15th  of  June, 
1831.  In  January  18th  of  the  following  year,  he 
married  Miss  Emeline  Augusta  Loud  of  Weymouth. 
In  August,  1834,  he  left  Woodstock,  and  was  in- 
stalled as  pastor  of  the  Evangelical  Congregational 
church  in  Quincy.  The  pastoral  charge  of  this 
church  he  resigned  in  1839,  on  account  of  ill  health 
and  the  failure  of  his  voice.  When  somewhat  re- 
covered, he  commenced  a  family  school,  in  which, 
for  three  years  he  was  very  successful.  In  1842,  he 
removed  to  Boston,  when  still  being  unable  to  sus- 
tain the  duties  of  the  pastoral  office,  he  directed  his 
attention  to  the  study  of  medicine.  After  spending 
46 


362  WILLIAM    M.    CORNELL. 

some  time  in  the  Tremont  medical  school,  under 
the  care  of  Drs.  Bigelow  and  Reynolds,  Holmes 
and  others,  he  attended  two  courses  of  lectures  at 
Harvard  university,  also  one  at  the  Pittsfield  medi- 
cal institute.  At  the  latter  institution  he  received 
the  degree  of  M.  D.  in  1845,  and  is  now  in  the  suc- 
cessful practice  of  his  profession  at  Boston. 

Dr.  Cornell  is  the  author  of  several  popular  works. 
Among  them  is  one  entitled,  Consumption  Pre- 
vented, which  has  passed  through  many  editions. 
Another  work,  The  Sabbath  made  for  Man,  was  re- 
ceived with  high  favor  by  the  religious  coummuni- 
ty.  For  three  years  he  edited  a  monthly  periodical, 
entitled  The  Journal  of  Health  and  Practical  Edu- 
cation. This  invaluable  work  has  done  much  in 
disseminating  a  knowledge  of  physiology  and  the 
laws  of  health.  Professional  engagements  have, 
however,  compelled  him  to  relinquish  it. 

The  doctor  is  truly  a  self  made  man,  having  with 
a  perseverance  seldom  equaled,  pressed  forward 
through  difficulties  which  would  have  discouraged 
one  less  determined.  Acting  in  his  capacity  of 
minister  and  physician,  he  has  proved  a  true  com- 
forter to  the  afflicted  sons  of  humanity.  Would  that 
there  were  more  Christians  among  the  medical  fra- 
ternity; for  what  consolation  can  the  professional 
atheist  afford  in  the  dying  moment,  and  who,  when 
the  coffin  lid  is  nailed  down,  pretends  to  believe  in 
the  doctrine  that  death  is  an  eternal  sleep,  and  that 
the  survivors  will  not  meet  the  departed  again  in 
the  glorious  Paradise  above. 


CHARLES  B.  COVENTRY.  363 


CHARLES  BRODHEAD  COVENTRY. 

lOURTH  son  of  the  late  Alexander  Coven- 
try, M.  D.,  who  died  at  Utica,   N.  Y.,   in 
December,  1831,  was  born  in  the  town  of 
Deerfield,  near  the  city  of  Utica  (then  Fort  Schuy- 
ler,) on  the  20th  of  April,    1801.     During  his 
early  years,  ill-health  confined  him  much  to  the 
house,  and  placed  him  more  immediately  under  the 
charge  and  care  of  his  affectionate  mother,  to  whom 
he  was  strongly  attached,  and  whose  death,  when 
he  was  but  thirteen  years  of  age,  left  an  impression 
which  time  will    never   efface.     From  that  event 
until  his  eighteenth  year,  his  residence  was  chiefly 
in  Utica,  where,  during  a  portion  of  the  time,   he 
attended  the  grammar  school,    the  residue  being 
spent  in  his  father's  office.     In  1817,  the  latter  hav- 
ing formed  a  partnership  with  Doctor  J.  McCall, 
yo°ung  Coventry  was  released  from  his  confinement 
in  the  office,  having  laid  in  a  stock  of  miscellaneous 
knowledge  by  the  perusal  of  the  books  of  a  large 
library  to  which  he  had  had  access.     During  the 
three  following  seasons  he  was  engaged  in  working 
on  his  father's  farm  at  Deerfield,  attending  school 
in  the  winter. 

His  feeble  health  not  permitting  him  to  continue 
his  agricultural  pursuits,  and  the  large  family  of  his 
father  rendering  it  necessary  that  he  should  rely  on 
himself,  in  the  autumn  of  1820,  he  took  the  school 
in  the  district  where  he  resided  and  engaged  in 
teaching.  At  the  expiration  of  the  term,  he  em- 
braced an  opportunity  afforded  him  of  prosecuting 
his  classical  studies,  as  an  assistant  in  a  school  in 
Utica.  He  remained  there  until  the  spring  of  1822, 
when,  with  impaired  health,  he  returned  to  his 
father  and  commenced  the  study  of  medicine.  He 
attended,  during  several  winters,  the  lectures  of  the 


364  CHARLES   B.    COVENTRY. 

college  of  physicians  and  surgeons  of  western  New 
York,  at  Fairfield,  the  intermediate  time  being  spent 
in  prosecuting  his  studies  in  the  office  of  his  father. 
In  the  spring  of  1825,  he  received  the  degree  of  M. 
D.,  in  the  above  institution.  His  thesis  was  on  the 
subject  of  purulent  ophthalmia,  which  had  recently 
appeared  in  western  New  York.  It  was  published 
in  the  New  York  Medical  and  Surgical  Journal. 
During  that  year  he  entered  into  business  with  his 
father,  which  connection  continued  until  the  fall  of 
1830. 

In  the  summer  of  1828,  Dr.  Coventry  was  appoint- 
ed lecturer  on  materia  medica  in  Berkshire  medical 
institution.  The  best  evidence  that  the  duties  of 
this  station  were  discharged  satisfactorily  was,  that 
the  chair  of  obstetrics  was  added  to  that  of  mate- 
ria medica  the  next  season. 

Professor  Coventry  continued  to  lecture  on  these 
two  branches  during  the  year  1829-30-31.  That 
period,  spent  in  the  beautiful  valley  of  Pittsfield, 
where  he  enjoyed  the  hospitality  of  its  citizens,  has 
often  been  referred  to  by  him  as  the  most  pleasant 
in  his  life. 

In  the  spring  of  1829,  he  was  united  in  marriage 
with  Clarissa,  eldest  daughter  of  the  late  Honorable 
Medad  Butler  of  Stuyvesant,  Columbia  county, 
New  York,*  by  whom  he  has  had  eight  children, 
six  of  whom  are  now  living.  In  the  summer  of 
1829,  he  had  a  severe  attack  of  hemorrhage  of  the 
lungs,  which  for  a  time  threatened  his  life.  After 
several  repeated  attacks,  he  was  determined  to  try 
the  effects  of  a  change  of  climate.  Accordingly  at 
the  close  of  his  lectures  in  the  autumn  of  1830,  he 
removed  to  the  city  of  New  York,  where  he  contin- 
ued to  reside  until  December,  1831,  when  having 
lost  his  eldest  child  he  was  summoned  to  the  sick 
bed   of  his  father,  who  died   on  the  22d  of  that 

*  She  is  the  sister  of  Honorable  B.  F.  Butler,  N.  Y. 


CHARLES   B.    COVENTRY.  365 

month.  Circumstances  connected  with  the  settle- 
ment of  the  estate,  requiring  his  presence  at  Utica, 
at  the  earnest  solicitation  of  his  friends,  he  was 
induced  to  return  to  that  city,  which  he  did  in  1832. 
On  the  appearance  of  the  cholera  in  that  year, 
Professor  Coventry  was  sent  by  the  common  coun- 
cil of  Utica,  to  investigate  the  nature  and  character 
of  the  disease.  He  subsequently  made  a  lucid  re- 
port on  the  subject,  which  was  extensively  published 
in  the  newspapers.  His  large  and  increasing  prac- 
tice soon  compelled  him,  although  reluctantly,  to 
dissolve  his  connection  with  the  medical  school  at 
Pittsfield. 

In  1839,  after  repeated  solicitations,  Professor 
Coventry  accepted  a  professorship  in  the  medical 
institution  of  Geneva  college,  and  he  is  the  only 
one  of  the  original  founders  remaining  in  that  in- 
stitution. There  he  lectured  on  materia  medica 
and  obstetrics  until  1840,  when  the  faculty  having 
reorganized,  he  received  the  appointment  of  professor 
of  obstetrics  and  medical  jurisprudence.  Its  num- 
ber of  students  in  the  institution  that  year  was  195. 
In  1846,  on  the  chartering  of  the  university  of 
Buffalo,  Doctor  Coventry  was  appointed  professor 
of  physiology  and  medical  jurisprudence,  which 
situation  he  continues  to  hold,  the  lectures  being  in 
the  summer,  and  not  interfering  with  the  duties  at 
Geneva  college. 

Owing  to  a  renewed  attack  of  his  former  disease, 
he  in  January,  1848,  accompanied  by  his  wife, 
visited  Europe,  and  was  in  Paris  during  the  three 
memorable  days  of  the  revolution.  He  was  one  of 
the  deputation  of  American  citizens  that  called  on 
the  provisional  government.  After  spending  five 
weeks  at  Paris,  he  and  his  lady  visited  London  and 
Liverpool,  thence  returning  to  the  United  States. 
This  voyage  proved  beneficial  to  his  health,  but  the 
death,  during  the  absence  of  both  her  parents,  of 
his  eldest  daughter,  an  unusually  interesting  child 


366  CHARLES   B.    COVENTRY. 

of  twelve  years  of  age,  will  ever  cast  a  sadness  over 
that  period. 

There  is  no  flock,  however  watched  and  tended, 

But  one  dead  lamb  is  there ! 
There  is  no  fireside,  howsoe'er  defended, 

But  has  one  vacant  chair. 

The  air  is  full  of  farewells  to  the  dying, 

And  mournings  for  the  dead; 
The  heart  of  Rachel  for  her  children  crying 

Will  not  be  comforted ! 

Let  us  be  patient !  these  severe  afflictions 

Not  from  the  ground  arise, 
But  oftentimes  celestial  benedictions 

Assume  this  dark  disguise. 

We  see  but  dimly  through  the  mists  and  vapors: 

Amid  these  earthly  damps; 
What  seem  to  us  but  dim,  funeral  tapers, 

May  be  Heaven's  distant  lamps. 

She  is  not  dead — the  child  of  our  affection — 

But  gone  unto  that  school, 
Where  she  no  longer  needs  our  poor  protection, 

And  Christ  himself  doth  rule. 

In  that  great  cloister's  stillness  and  seclusion, 

By  guardian  angels  led, 
Safe  from  temptation,  safe  from  sin's  pollution, 

She  lives,  whom  we  call  dead. 

Professor  Coventry  has  been  a  frequent  and  able 
contributor  to  the  leading  medical  journals,  and 
his  addresses  delivered  before  various  medical  socie- 
ties, most  of  which  have  been  published,  are  too 
well  known  to  require  a  particular  notice. 

He  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  active  advo- 
cates for  the  establishment  of  a  state  lunatic  asylum. 
As  early  as  1834,  he  introduced  a  series  of  resolu- 
tions, which  were  passed  by  the  medical  society  of 
the  county  of  Oneida,  urging  the  subject  on  the 
consideration  of  the  legislature,  etc.  How  much 
does  the  community  owe  to  such  men,  who  live  for 
others  as  well  as  themselves. 

Professor  Coventry  was  one  of  the  original  board 
of  trustees  appointed  by  Governor  Seward,  and  was 
on  the  committee  appointed  to  draw  up  a  plan  of 
organization  for  the  asylum.     He  was  also  appoint- 


CHARLES   B.    COVENTRY.  367 

ed  a  member  of  the  new  board,  to  which  situation 
he  has  been  successively  reappointed  until  the  pre- 
sent time. 

What  is  more  humiliating  to  the  pride  of  roan 
than  a  glance  at  the  interior  of  an  insane  asylum! 
The  exhibition  of  broken  constitutions,  decayed 
faculties,  and  shattered  intellects,  added  to  the 
general  squalid  wretchedness  that  pervades  the 
scene,  presents  the  most  gloomy  picture  in  the  cata- 
logue of  human  woe.  Philosophy  hath  no  balm  to 
mitigate  the  distress,  or  soothe  the  agony  of  the 
torn  bosom  that  contemplates  the  awful  curse. 
Friendship  bleeds  in  vain.  Love  immolates  itself 
to  no  purpose ;  and  the  tears  of  sympathy  fall  as 
profitless  as  the  dews  of  Heaven  into  the  burning 
crater  of  Etna,  or  on  the  frozen  hills  of  Caucasus. 
We  may  muse  in  sadness  over  a  spoiled  harvest 
and  desolated  country  which  marks  the  foot  of  ruth- 
less ambition — or  pause  in  melancholy  silence  at 
the  sight  of  hopes  blasted  by  some  more  humble 
robber — yet  there  is  a  commingling  of  other  feelings 
in  the  soul  that  serves  in  some  degree  to  soften  the 
sharp  edge  of  bitterness.  We  can  speak  comfort  to 
the  heart  steeped  in  anguish,  and  vent  reproaches 
on  the  monster  who  can  still  reflect  and  feel — and 
even  beneath  the  awe-inspiring  scourge  of  the  con- 
queror, we  still  indulge  the  pleasing  dream  that  he 
can  be  reached  either  by  the  potent  arm  of  justice, 
or  the  all-persuasive  power  of  eloquence.  But  who 
can  reach  the  insane,  where  the  divinity,  though  not 
dead,  lies  wrapped  in  the  dark  folds  of  corruption? 

In  1846,  Professor  Coventry  united  with  the  Pro- 
testant episcopal  church,  thus  showing  himself, 
unlike  too  many  of  his  professional  brethren,  a  firm 
believer  in  the  beautiful  doctrines  of  the  Christian 
religion. 


368  CHARLES    T.    JACKSON. 


CHARLES  T.  JACKSON. 

ROM  a  very  interesting  biogra- 
phical sketch  in  the  Detroit 
Advertiser,  it  appears  that  Dr. 
Jackson  was  born  in  Plymouth,  Mas- 
sachusetts, June  21st,  1805,  and  is 
descended  on  the  father's  side,  from 
one^of  the  Jacksons  who  came  out  with  Morton, 
the  secretary  of  the  Plymouth  colony,  and  on  the 
mother's  side,  from  the  Rev.  John  Cotton,  the  first 
regularly  settled  clergyman  of  Boston.  His  father 
was  an  enterprising  merchant  of  Plymouth,  engaged 
largely  in  navigation.  When  but  twelve  years  of 
age,  it  was  Charles'  misfortune  to  lose  his  parents, 
both  of  whom  died  within  a  month  of  each  other. 
At  this  time,  he  was  attending  a  private  school 
at  Duxbury,  conducted  by  the  celebrated  Dr.  John 
Allyne,  where  he  remained  three  years.  He  was 
removed  from  this  place  by  his  guardian,  to  a  mer- 
cantile house  in  Boston,  where  he  remained  one 
year,  and  though  faithful  in  his  business  relations, 
acquired  no  taste  for  the  mercantile  profession.  So 
much  did  he  dislike  this  business,  that  he  left  it 
against  the  wishes  of  his  friends,  and  put  himself 
under  the  private  tuition  of  the  Rev.  Samuel  Dean, 
of  Scituate,  who  was  distinguished  for  his  know- 
ledge of  the  classics.  He  remained  here  about  two 
yea*rs,  when  having  a  strong  taste  for  mathematics, 
he  placed  himself  with  Levi  Fletcher,  the  preceptor 
of  Lancaster  academy,  a  gentleman  distinguished 
for  his  attainments  in  this  science.  He  continued 
with  this  gentleman,  as  his  private  pupil,  for  about 
two  years,  keeping  up,  by  close  application  during 
this  period,  his  classical  studies.  Mr.  Kingsbury 
succeeded  Mr.  Fletcher  as  preceptor  of  the  academy, 
with  whom  he  remained  one  year,  devoting  himself 


CHARLES   T.    JACKSON.  369 

to  the  study  of  Greek.  He  had  now  completed  the 
whole  course  of  college  studies  under  private  tuition, 
and  determined  to  enter  the  third  term  of  the  Junior 
year  at  Harvard  university,  but  was  dissuaded  by 
his  friends  on  account  of  ill  health.  To  recruit  his 
health,  he  travelled  on  foot  through  the  states  of 
New  York  and  New  Jersey,  in  company  with  several 
distinguished  naturalists,  among  whom  were  Baron 
Lederer,  McClnre,  Leseur,  and  Troost,  making  scien- 
tific observations  and  collecting  objects  of  natural 
history.  Upon  his  return  to  Boston,  he  entered 
Harvard  university  as  a  student  of  medicine,  and 
pursued  his  studies  with  Drs.  James  Jackson  and 
Walter  Channing.  After  studying  a  year,  by  the 
advice  of  his  physician,  he  devoted  one  summer  in 
traveling  in  Nova  Scotia,  making  the  first  miner- 
alogical  and  geological  examination  of  that,  province, 
in  company  with  his  young  friend,  Francis  Alger,  of 
this  city.  An  account  of  their  researches  was  pub- 
lished in  the  American  Journal  of  Science,  in  1827-8. 
Upon  his  return,  he  pursued  his  studies  with  great 
enthusiasm,  so  that  he  soon  took  the  lead  at  the 
dissecting  room  and  the  hospital.  For  a  time,  the 
collateral  sciences  were  laid  aside,  and  his  whole 
powers  were  devoted  to  the  study  of  medicine.  He 
graduated  in  the  spring  of  1829,  and  received  from 
the  Boylston  medical  society  the  premium  for  the 
best  dissertation  upon  a  medico-chemical  subject. 
In  the  summer  of  the  same  year,  he  again  visited 
Nova  Scotia,  chartering  a  vessel  for  the  purpose  of 
procuring  an  abundant  supply  of  minerals  for  his 
friends  in  Europe,  whom  he  was  preparing  to  visit. 
In  the  autumn  of  1829,  he  embarked  for  France, 
and  spent  three  years  in  the  university  there,  engaged 
in  the  study  of  medicine,  and  in  attending  lectures 
in  the  Royal  school  of  mines,  at  the  academy  of 
Sorbonne,  and  the  college  of  France.  He  also 
traveled  on  foot  through  Switzerland  and  Tyrol, 
and  spent  two  months  at  Vienna,  studying  the  cho- 
47 


370  CHARLES    T.    JACKSON. 

lera,  (that  dreadful  disease  having  broken  out  one 
week  after  his  arrival  in  that  city,)  in  company  with 
Dr.  John  Furgus,  of  Scotland.  These  gentlemen 
made  the  first  dissections  of  subjects  who  had  died 
of  cholera,  in  Vienna,  and  it  is  believed  the  first 
made  in  Europe.  From  Vienna  he  traveled  to 
Trieste  and  crossed  to  Italy,  where  he  made  a  pedes- 
trian tour  through  the  country  to  Naples,  and  around 
the  island  of  Sicily,  becoming  familiar  with  Vesu- 
vius and  iEtna,  as  well  as  with  the  works  of  art  in 
that  interesting  country.  In  his  journey,  he  was 
engaged  actively  in  the  study  of  the  mineralogy 
and  geology  of  the  countries  through  which  he 
passed,  and  in  collecting  specimens.  He  returned 
to  France,  and  traveled  on  foot  through  the  vol- 
canic regions  of  Central  France,  visiting  the  mines, 
furnaces  and  manufactories  in  that  portion  of  the 
country. 

He  arrived  at  Paris  on  the  16th  of  June,  1832,  at 
the  time  of  the  bloody  insurrection  of  the  people  to 
put  down  the  government  of  Louis  Phillippe,  and 
assisted  in  taking  care  of  the  wounded  at  the  hos- 
pital of  St.  Antoine,  under  the  charge  of  Professor 
Berard,  his  private  instructor.  During  the  summer 
of  this  year,  at  the  request  of  the  internes,  he  gave 
a  course  of  private  instructions  and  lectures  in  surgi- 
cal anatomy,  the  cholera  furnishing  abundant  sub- 
jects for  experiment.  In  October  of  that  year,  fur- 
nishing himself  with  a  select  French  library  of 
medical  works,  and  abundance  of  chemical  philo- 
sophical apparatus,  he  returned  to  New  York  in  the 
packet  ship  Sully.  It  was  on  this  passage  that  he 
explained  and  illustrated  to  Mr.  Morse  the  principles 
of  the  magnetic  telegraph,  which  subsequently  re- 
sulted in  the  adoption  of  that  system  of  communi- 
cation. On  his  arrival  at  Boston,  he  established 
himself  in  his  profession,  as  physican  and  surgeon, 
in  which  he  soon  became  eminently  successful, 


CHARLES    T.    JACKSON.  371 

especially  in  surgery,  for  which  his  experience  and 
studies  in  France  had  fitted  him. 

In  1834,  he  married  Miss  Susan  Bridge,  daughter 
of  the  late  Nathan  Bridge,  a  successful  merchant  of 
Boston.  He  continued  the  practice  of  medicine 
with  much  success,  devoting  his  leisure  hours  to 
medico-chemical  researches — to  analytic  chemistry, 
mineralogy,  and  occasionally  making  geological  ex- 
cursions in  this  and  the  neighboring  states.  The 
latter  researches  soon  attracted  the  attention  of  the 
governments  of  Maine  and  Massachusetts;  and  in 
1836,  he  was  commissioned  simultaneously,  with- 
out previous  request,  by  Governors  Dunlap  and  Ev- 
erett, of  these  states,  to  make  a  geological  survey  of 
Maine,  and  of  the  public  lands  of  Massachusetts,  in 
that  state. 

He  drew  up  a  plan  which  was  finally  adopted, 
for  the  geological  survey  of  the  state  of  New  York, 
and  resigned  the  appointment  of  state  geologist, 
conferred  upon  him.  by  Gov.  Marcy,  preferring  to 
engage  in  the  geological  survey  of  Maine,  that  state 
having  been  but  little  explored.  He  completed  the 
survey  of  public  lands,  made  two  reports  to  Massa- 
chusetts and  three  reports  to  Maine,  when  the 
boundary  troubles  absorbed  the  money  in  the  trea- 
sury of  the  latter  state,  and  prevented  further  appro- 
priations for  the  completion  of  the  survey.  Before 
leaving  the  capital  of  Maine,  he  received  the  ap- 
pointment of  state  geologist  of  Rhode  Island,  and 
completed  a  geological  and  agricultural  survey  of 
that  state  in  a  single  year,  and  published  an  octavo 
report,  with  a  geological  map  of  the  state.  Before 
the  completion  of  this  survey,  he  was  commissioned 
by  Gov.  Paige,  of  New  Hampshire,  to  make  a  geo- 
logical survey  of  that  state,  and  he  completed  it  in 
three  years — publishing  in  1844,  a  large  quarterly 
report,  illustrated  by  a  geographical  map,  sections 
and  views,  with  contributions  on  metallurgy,  and 
for  the  improvement  of  agriculture. 


372  CHARLES    T.    JACKSON. 

He  has  also  made  many  private  surveys  of  mines 
for  companies  of  individuals,  and  established  a 
laboratory  for  the  instruction  of  young  men  in  ana- 
lytical chemistry. 

He  made  the  first  mining  surveys  on  Lake  Supe- 
rior, spending  two  summers  on  the  shores  of  that 
lake,  and  has  lately  received  an  appointment  from 
the  United  States  of  geologist,  for  the  survey  of  the 
mineral  lands  in  the  northern  peninsula  of  Michigan. 
He  has  made  and  published  in  his  reports,  more 
analyses  of  minerals — was  the  first  discoverer  of 
chlorine  in  meteoric  iron,  and  has  discovered  a  num- 
ber of  new  mineral  species.  He  has  been,  and  is 
consulting  chemist  to  numerous  manufacturers — is 
employed  in  the  exploration  of  mines,  and  as  the 
assayer  of  ores  and  metals  for  this  state.  His  vege- 
table physiology  and  chemistry,  connected  with 
agriculture,  have  been  eminently  practical,  and  have 
tended  in  no  small  degree  to  improve  that  art.  His 
laboratory  is  always  open  to  the  instruction  of  pu- 
pils in  practical  chemistry,  whereby  exact  knowl- 
'  edge  is  diffused  over  the  country,  to  say  nothing  of 
his  numerous  courses  of  lectures. 

But  the  great  event  of  Dr.  Jackson's  life,  is  his 
discovery  of  etherization.  No  other  discovery,  with 
the  exception  perhaps  of  vaccination,  can  vie  with 
this  in  the  extent  to  which  it  has  prevented  human 
suffering. 

Previously  to  Dr.  Jackson's  experiments,  the  inhalation  of  sulphuric 
ether  to  such  a  degree  as  to  produce  unconsciousness,  had  been  univer- 
sally regarded  by  all  the  authorities  on  the  subject,  as  highly  dangerous. 
<  >rfila  and  other  writers  on  toxicology,  had  ranked  it  among  poisons.  A 
case  of  dangerous  stupor  of  thirty  hours  duration  and  several  cases  of 
death,  together  with  many  other  effects  of  an  alarming  nature,  had  been 
recordedin  books  as  having  been  produced  by  that  agent.  In  this  state 
of  opinion  among  physicians  and  men  of  science,  Dr.  Jackson  was  led 
from  his  knowledge  of  its  proportions,  to  conjecture  witii  admirable  sa- 
gacity that  the  bad  effects  which  had  followed  its  inhalation  were  due, 
not  to  the  ether  itself,  but  to  the  want  of  a  proper  admixture  of  atmo- 
spheric air,  and  to  the  acids  and  alcohol  which  he  knew  the  sulphuric 
ether  of  commerce  to  contain.  This  conjecture  he  verified  by  an  experi- 
ment made  upon  himself  in  order  to  ascertain  its  effects  upon  the  human 


CHARLES    T.    JACKSON.  373 

system — an  experiment  which,  for  boldness  and  deliberate  courage,  has 
no  parallel  in  the  history  of  science.  He,  while  entirely  alone  in  his 
laboratory,  inhaled  sulphuric  ether  from  a  cloth  which  he  had  moistened 
with  it,  and  applied  to  his  mouth  and  nose  till  he  became  unconscious. 
In  a  few  minutes  he  recovered  his  consciousness,  and  neither  then  nor 
afterwards  suffered  any  ill  effects  from  the  experiment.  He  observed  for 
a  short  time  before  and  after  the  period  of  unconsciousness,  a  peculiar 
state  never  before  conceived  to  be  possible  in  health,  or  safely  producible 
in  any  condition  of  the  body,  to  wit,  a  total  loss  of  sensibility  to  external 
objects,  and  an  apparently  complete  paralysis  of  the  nerves  of  sensation, 
while  he  retained  at  the  same  time  entire  possession  of  consciousness  and 
the  other  intellectual  faculties.  Subsequently,  in  the  winter  of  1841-2, 
he  inhaled  sulphuric  ether  for  relief  from  the  veiy  distressing  and  dan- 
gerous effects  of  an  accidental  inhalation  of  chlorine,  and  experienced, 
in  addition  to  the  effects  just  described,  entire  though  temporary  relief 
from  pain.  From  these  two  experiments  and  numerous  others  in  which 
he  inhaled  sulphuric  ether  in  smaller  quantities,  and  in  all  instances 
without  any  unpleasant  consequences,  he  inferred  that  it  is  safe  to  inhale 
that  substance  to  such  an  extent  as  to  produce  unconsciousness,  and  that 
when  inhaled  to  that  extent  it  has  the  power  to  produce  total  insensibility 
to  any  degree  of  pain. 

He  subsequently  communicated  these  experiments  and  the  conclusions 
he  had  drawn  from  them  to  several  persons,  and  urged,  though  without 
success,  two  of  them  to  make  trial  of  sulphuric  ether  to  prevent  the  pain 
of  extracting  teeth.  He  intended,  when  he  should  have  leisure  from 
the  engrossing  labors  connected  with  his  geological  surveys,  to  institute 
further  experiments,  and  to  subject  his  discovery  to  a  practical  test  him- 
self. Before,  however,  having  opportunity  and  leisure  to  do  so,  he  in- 
structed, on  the  thirtieth  of  September,  1846,  Mr.  W.  T.  G.  Morton,  a 
dentist  of  Boston,  how  to  apply  the  ether,  and  induced  him  to  test,  under 
his  direction,  and  with  an  express  assumption  of  all  the  responsibility  of 
the  experiment,  its  power  to  destroy  the  pain  of  dental  operations.  On 
the  same  day  Mr.  Morton,  following  the  directions  he  had  received,  ex- 
tracted a  tooth  from  a  patient  under  the  influence  of  the  ether,  without 
causing  him  any  pain,  and  thus  verified  Dr.  Jackson's  induction,  so  far 
as  the  extraction  of  teeth  is  concerned.  The  next  day  Dr.  Jackson  ob- 
tained the  consent  of  Mr.  Morton  to  go  to  the  surgeons  of  the  Massachu- 
setts general  hospital  and  request  them  to  apply  it  in  their  surgical  ope- 
rations. Several  severe  operations  were  performed  at  that  institution  in 
the  months  of  October  and  November,  without  any  suffering  on  the  part 
of  the  patients;  and  thus  fully  verified  Dr.  Jackson's  induction  respecting 
the  power  of  ether  to  destroy  pain. 

In  a  few  months  the  knowledge  and  application  of  the  discovery  were 
diffused  throughout  the  civilized  world.  No  discovery  ever  excited  at 
its  announcement,  more  astonishment  and  enthusiasm.  Dr.  Jackson's 
name  is  known  all  over  the  continent  of  Europe  as  a  great  benefactor  of 
the  human  race.  Authors  have  dedicated  their  works  to  him,  and  re- 
cently Louis  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  president  of  the  French  republic,  has, 
as  a  reward  for  the  discovery,  conferred  upon  him  the  cross  of  the  legion 
of  honor — the  only  instance  in  which  this  high  distinction  has  ever  been 
conferred  upon  an  American  citizen. 


374  DAVID    BRYANT. 


DAVID    BRYANT, 

kORN  on  the  6th  of  January,  1801,  at 
Bradford,  New  Hampshire,  was  the  eldest 
of  eight  children.  His  father,  Benaich 
Bryant,  was  born  in  1772,  at  Plaistow, 
»New  Hampshire;  he  was  a  cooper  by  trade, 
but  in  1779,  he  bought  160  acres  of  wild  land 
in  Bradford,  and  followed  the  business  of  farming. 
He  died  in  1845,  aged  seventy  three. 

The  respected  mother  of  Dr.  Bryant  still  survives 
in  the  enjoyment  of  fine  health,  and  resides  with 
him  in  Boston. 

His  paternal  grandfather  was  David  Bryant.  He 
was  born  at  Plaistow,  N.  H.,  in  1736,  and  was  a 
farmer.  He  was  much  honored,  and  filled  numer- 
ous public  offices.  He  died  in  1810,  in  his  seventy 
fourth  year. 

His  maternal  grandfather,  Daniel  Cressey,  was 
born  in  Beverley,  Massachusetts,  where  he  resided 
until  he  attained  the  age  of  twenty-one.  He  then 
took  up  arms  in  defence  of  the  colonies,  and  was 
in  many  battles  with  the  French  and  Indians.  His 
hardships  and  sufferings  were  almost  unparalleled. 
On  one  occasion  he  and  several  of  his  company, 
were  surrounded  by  the  Indians  at  the  Great  Ox 
Bow,  where  they  remained  several  days  without 
any  food,  except  a  little  scout  dog  which  hunger 
compelled  them  to  kill  and  eat.  At  last,  after  many 
unsuccessful  attempts,  they  discovered  a  place 
where  the  river  could  be  forded ;  and  passing  over 
in  the  stillness  of  the  night  by  the  aid  of  stakes 
and  poles,  made  good  their  escape.  Although 
frequently  exposed  to  the  most  imminent  danger, 
he  was  so  fortunate  as  not  to  receive  a  single 
wound  during  the  whole  of  the  campaign.     After 


DAVID   BRYANT.  375 

the  conquest  of  Canada,  he  returned  to  his  native 
town,  where  he  resided  for  several  years.  He  then 
removed  to  Hopkinton,  N.  H.,  and  thence  in  1777, 
to  Bradford,  being  the  fourth  settler  in  that  town. 
After  holding  many  offices,  he  died  in  1817,  aged 
eighty-six.  His  wife  died  the  same  year,  and  at 
the  same  age.  Their  ancestors  were  of  consider- 
able note  in  Europe. 

The  education  of  Dr.  Bryant  was  limited  to  a 
very  irregular  attendance  at  distant  periods,  at  a 
county  district  school ;  and  although  study  was  his 
delight,  yet,  the  circumstances  of  his  father  imper- 
atively required  his  services  on  the  farm. 

At  the  age  of  twenty,  having  a  taste  for  me- 
chanics, he  hired  himself  to  a  carpenter  at  Quincy, 
Massachusetts.  Having  quickly  learned  the  trade, 
he  removed  to  Boston,  where  he  followed  that 
business  until  1840.  His  past  experience  and  per- 
sonal practice  then  enabled  him  to  assume  the  pro- 
fession of  an  architect,  in  which  he  succeeded 
beyond  his  most  sanguine  expectations. 

Mr.  Bryant  has  ever  been  an  able  advocate  of  the 
rights  of  the  artizan  and  the  producer;  being 
always  ready  to  respond  to  their  call,  and  serving 
them  in  every  capacity  at  their  assemblages. 

In  1838,  Mr.  Byrant  was  employed  by  the  govern- 
ment to  superintend  the  erection  of  four  light- 
houses. In  1839,  he  was  appointed  temporary 
inspector  of  the  customs.  He  has  likewise  held 
other  offices.  He  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the 
final  success  of  perseverance. 


376  AMASA   J.    PARKER. 


AMASA  J.  PARKER. 

ONNECTICUT  was  the  native  state  of 
this  distinguished  gentleman.  He  was 
born  at  Sharon,  in  the  parish  of  Ells- 
worth, Litchfield  county,  on  the  second 
of  June,  1807.  His  father  was  the 
Reverend  Daniel  Parker,  who  was  pastor  of  the 
congregational  church  of  Ellsworth  parish. 
His  ancestors  were  of  the  good  old  puritan 
stock  of  New  England,  and  had  resided  in  the 
western  part  of  Connecticut  for  several  generations. 
His  paternal  and  maternal  grandfathers,  Amasa 
Parker  and  Thomas  Fenn,  both  served  in  the  revo- 
lutionary war,  and  were  respected  for  their  integrity 
and  moral  virtues.  The  latter  was  for  twenty  years 
a  representative  in  the  state  legislature,  and  a  magis- 
trate. They  lived  and  died  at  Watertown,  in  that 
state. 

The  Reverend  Daniel  Parker  was  a  graduate  of 
Yale  college.  He  married  Miss  Anna  Fenn,  daugh- 
ter of  Thomas  Fenn,  Esq.,  and  was  for  almost 
twenty  years  a  settled  minister  at  Ellsworth. 

In  1816,  the  reverend  gentleman  removed  to 
Greenville,  Greene  county,  New  York,  and  took 
charge  of  the  academy  at  that  place.  It  was  at 
that  place,  that  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  then 
only  nine  years  of  age,  commenced  the  study  of  the 
Latin  language.  After  remaining  there  two  years, 
he  spent  a  like  period  at  the  Hudson  academy,  and 
subsequently  three  years  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

Judge  Parker  was  the  eldest  son,  and,  ever  eager 
to  learn,  pains  were  taken  with  his  education;  his 
father  devoting  the  most  constant  attention  to  it, 
and  securing  him  the  instruction  of  the  most  care- 
ful instructors  and  professors  in  the  country. 

As  all  those  acquainted  with  him   may  readily 


AMASA    J.    PARKER.  377 

infer,  no  man  was  ever  more  completely  and  critic- 
ally instructed,  in  a  course  of  classical  education, 
than  himself.  To  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
dead  languages,  was  added  an  acquaintance  with 
modern  tongues,  and  belles-lettres,  as  well  as  the 
more  severe  studies  of  mathematics. 

At  the  age  of  sixteen,  he  had  completed  the  usual 
course  of  collegiate  study,  although  not  within  the 
walls  of  a  college,  being  precocious  in  intellect,  as 
well  as  in  stature. 

In  May,  1823,  as  its  principal,  he  took  charge  of 
the  Hudson  academy,  an  incorporated  institution, 
subject  to  the  visitation  of  the  regents.  During  the 
four  years  which  he  remained  at  its  head,  the  acade- 
my enjoyed  a  high  reputation,  and  was  in  a  most 
flourishing  condition.  His  age  was  not  then  ma- 
ture, and  his  pupils,  scattered  over  the  state,  were 
afterwards  snrprised  to  learn,  that  their  preceptor 
was  younger  than  many  of  themselves.  During 
this  time,  the  argument  was  used  by  the  academy 
at  Kinderhook,  a  rival  institution,  that  the  principal 
of  the  Hudson  academy  was  not  a  graduate  of  a 
college.  To  obviate  any  such  objection,  Mr.  Parker 
availed  himself  of  the  opportunity  afforded  by  a 
short  vacation,  to  present  himself  at  Union  college, 
in  order  to  take  an  examination  for  the  entire  course, 
and  to  graduate  with  the  class.  This  he  did,  and 
took  his  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts,  in  July,  1825. 

During  the  latter  part  of  his  term  at  the  Hudson 
academy,  he  was  entered  as  a  student  at  law,  in  the 
office  of  that  sound  jurist,  John  W.  Edmonds,  then 
residing  at  Hudson,  and  since  circuit  judge  of  the 
first  circuit,  and  justice  of  the  supreme  court. 

At  the  age  of  twenty,  in  the  spring  of  1827,  hav- 
ing resigned  his  charge,  Mr.  Parker  retired  to  Delhi, 
Delaware  county,  for  the  purpose  of  pursuing  his 
legal  studies,  in  the  office  of  his  uncle,  Colonel  Amasa 
Parker,  a  practicing  lawyer  of  eminence  at  that 
place.  He  continued  there  until  his  admission  to 
48 


378  AMASA    J.    PARKER. 

the  bar,  at  the  October  term,  in  1829.  He  then 
formed  a  law  partnership  with  his  uncle,  which 
lasted  over  fifteen  years,  during-  which  period  they 
were  engaged  in  a  most  extensive  practice. 

Immediately  on  his  admission,  he  entered  the 
higher  courts,  as  an  advocate;  and,  taking  upon 
himself  that  branch  of  the  business,  he  was  for 
many  years  much  abroad,  at  the  neighboring  cir- 
cuits, and  at  the  terms  of  the  common  law  and 
equity  courts. 

Delaware  county  having  for  forty  years  been 
strongly  democratic  in  its  politics,  Mr.  Parker  was 
early  in  life  engaged  in  the  great  political  struggles 
of  the  day.  In  the  fall  of  1833,  at  the  age  of  twen- 
ty-six, he  was  elected  to  the  state  legislature,  where 
he  served  on  the  committee  of  ways  and  means, 
and  in  other  important  positions,  during  the  winter 
of  1834.  In  1835,  he  was  elected  by  the  legislature 
a  regent  of  the  New  York  state  university — a  rare 
honor  for  so  young  a  man — this  distinction  never 
having  been  before  conferred  upon  one  of  his  age. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-nine,  he  was  elected  a  mem- 
ber of  the  twenty-fifth  congress,  to  represent  the 
congressional  district  composed  of  the  counties  of 
Delaware  and  Broome.  It  is  here  worthy  of  remark, 
that  at  both  elections  he  ran  without  opposition,  the 
opposite  party  deeming  it  useless  to  bring  a  whig 
candidate  into  the  field  against  him. 

While  in  congress,  he  served  upon  several  im- 
portant committees,  and  his  speeches  were  upon  the 
public  lands,  the  Mississippi  election  question,  the 
Cilley  duel,  and  other  great  subjects  of  the  day,  all 
of  which  may  be  found  in  the  Congressional  Globe. 
His  speech  on  the  knotty  points  involved  in  the  Mis- 
sissippi election  case,  was  pronounced,  by  men  of 
both  parties,  to  be  one  of  the  best  logical  speeches 
they  had  heard  for  many  years. 

In  the  fall  of  1839,  he  was  a  candidate  for  the 
office  of  state  senator,  in  the  third  senatorial  dis- 


AMASA   J.    PARKER.  379 

trict.  The  canvass  was  a  very  excited  one,  owing 
to  the  fact  that  a  United  States  senator  was  to  be 
elected  by  the  next  legislature,  in  the  place  of  Mr. 
Tallin  ad  ge.  Very  great  exertions  were  made,  and 
about  fifty  thousand  votes  were  polled.  The  result 
was,  the  election  of  the  whig  candidate,  the  late 
General  Root,  by  a  very  small  majority. 

This  defeat  of  Mr.  Parker  was,  without  doubt,  a 
fortunate  event  for  his  professional  reputation,  as  it 
enabled  him  to  prosecute  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion with  renewed  energy  and  success,  until  he  was 
appointed  to  the  bench,  on  the  6th  of  March,  1844. 

On  accepting,  with  hesitation,  the  appointment 
of  circuit  judge,  he  repaired  immediately  to  the  city 
of  Albany,  where  he  continued  to  reside  during  his 
term  of  office.  The  duties  of  the  office  were  very 
laborious,  and  required  the  most  constant  applica- 
tion. As  circuit  judge  in  the  common  law  courts, 
and  as  vice-chancellor  in  the  court  of  equity,  the 
whole  of  his  time  was  occupied,  and  heavy  respon- 
sibilities devolved  upon  him. 

In  addition  to  the  ordinary  business  of  his  district, 
the  anti-rent  difficulties  added  much  to  his  labors. 
He  commenced  his  civil  calendars  with  questions 
of  title,  and  at  the  oyer  and  terminer,  the  most  pain- 
ful duties  were  imposed  upon  him,  in  punishing 
violations  of  the  public  peace.  His  labors  at  the 
Delaware  circuit,  in  1845,  will  not  soon  be  forgot- 
ten. He  found  in  jail  about  a  hundred  and  ten 
persons,  under  indictment.  At  the  end  of  three 
weeks,  the  jail  was  cleared,  every  case  having  been 
disposed  of,  by  conviction  or  otherwise.  Two  were 
sentenced  to  death,  for  the  murder  of  Sheriff  Steele, 
and  about  fifteen  to  confinement,  for  various  periods, 
in  the  state  prison:  for  the  lighter  offences,  fines 
were  in  several  cases  imposed.  The  course  pursued 
by  Judge  Parker,  met  with  general  approbation. 
After  the  adjournment  of  the  court,  the  military 
force  was  discharged,  peace  was  restored,  and  in  no 


380  AM  AS  A   J.    PARKER. 

instance  has  resistance  to  process  since  occurred  in 
that  county. 

No  criminal  trials  in  the  state  were  ever  surround- 
ed with  such  difficulties,  or  more  imperiously  re- 
quired the  exercise  of  firmness,  caution,  energy,  and 
promptness.  The  following  summer  the  degree  of 
LL.  D.  was  conferred  upon  Judge  Parker,  by  Gene- 
va college. 

On  the  27th  of  August,  1834,  Judge  Parker  was 
united  in  marriage  with  Miss  Harriet  L.  Roberts,  of 
Portsmouth,  New  Hampshire. 

The  judge  received  from  his  father  no  patrimony, 
except  his  classical  education.  The  means  of  ac- 
quiring his  professional  education,  he  obtained  by 
his  own  industry,  as  a  teacher.  He  has  always  ap- 
plied himself  with  great  industry  to  his  profession, 
and  has  ever  relied  on  his  own  energy  for  success. 
By  these  exertions  he  has  been  able  to  surmount 
every  obstacle,  and  to  attain  his  present  elevated 
position.  His  term  of  office  as  circuit  judge,  ter- 
minated with  the  constitution,  and  at  the  first  peri- 
odical election  held  under  the  new  constitution,  the 
little  boy  who  commenced  learning  Latin  at  nine 
years  of  age,  was  elected  justice  of  the  supreme 
court  of  the  state  of  New  York. 

His  election  was  considered  as  a  most  triumphant 
vindication  of  the  policy  of  committing  the  choice 
of  judicial  officers  to  the  people.  He  was  elected 
in  the  third  judicial  district,  although  in  the  seven 
counties  which  compose  it,  an  adverse  influence 
had  been  at  work.  It  was  thought  that  great  pre- 
judice existed  against  him,  on  account  of  the  duties 
his  office  compelled  him  to  perform  at  the  Delaware 
triais — yet  his  majority  over  the  opposing  candidate 
was  nearly  six  thousand,  embracing  many  of  all 
parties,  who  came  forward  to  cast  their  influence 
in  favor  of  a  candidate  who  had  kindly,  but  firmly, 
enforced  the  execution  «of  the  law. 

As  a  magistrate,  Judge  Parker  has  always  evinced 


AMASA   J.    PARKER.  38  L 

great  firmness  and  independence.  During  the  five 
years  he  has  served  upon  the  bench  as  circuit  judge 
and  justice  of  the  supreme  court,  it  has  fallen  to  his 
lot,  more  than  to  that  of  any  other  judge  in  the  state, 
to  preside  at  the  trial  of  causes  in  regard  to  which 
there  was  a  very  excited  state  of  public  feeling.* 

*  It  will  probably  be  expected,  tbat  in  connexion  with  this  sketch, 
some  reference  sbould  be  made  to  the  recent  exciting  trials,  growing 
out  of  the  failure  of  the  Canal  Bank,  and  during  which  Judge  Parker 
presided  on  the  bench.  The  author  of  this  work,  has  been  in  Albany 
from  the  time  of  the  decision,  and  as  an  indifferent  spectator,  has 
watched  carefully  the  expressions  and  changes  of  public  sentiment  in 
relation  thereto.  Scarcely  two  months  have  yet  elapsed,  and  the  senti- 
ment is  changed,  and  few  who  are  competent  to  judge,  can  now  be 
found  who  do  not  honestly  admit  the  correctness  of  the  decision. 

The  failure  of  the  bank  and  the  trial  of  Theodore  Olcott,  its  former 
cashier,  for  perjury,  the  nature  of  the  defence,  together  with  the  pro- 
gressing investigation  before  a  committee  of  the  senate,  created  the 
most  iutense  excitement,  which  daily  increased.  In  charging  the  jury, 
it  became  necessary  for  the  judge  to  decide  a  question  of  law,  growing 
out  of  the  peculiar  character  of  the  defence,  of  importance  in  the  case, 
though  not  necessarily  controlling  the  result.  It  was  a  question  never 
before  presented  on  a  criminal  trial,  and  the  correct  decision  of  which, 
required  discrimination  and  the  careful  application  of  general  principles. 
It  was  also  a  question  requiring  careful  consideration,  and  which 
fortunately  there  was  ample  time  to  bestow  on  it,  before  the  decision  was 
made.  In  deciding  the  question  in  favor  of  the  defendent,  Judge 
Parker  must  have  known  full  well,  that  he  was  hazarding  the  loss  of  a 
popularity  rarely  enjoyed  by  a  judicial  officer;  that  a  just  judgment  upon 
the  question  decided,  or  upon  the  motives  which  dictated  that  decision, 
could  hardly  be  expected  in  a  community  so  excited  by  losses,  and  so 
determined  upon  the  punishment  of  the  accused.  It  has  been  with 
truth  observed,  that  when  the  passions  of  a  people  are  aroused,  and 
they  seek  redress  for  a  real  or  supposed  injury,  they  will  not  always 
await  the  slow  progress  of  the  administration  of  justice.  Prompted  by 
good  nature  and  generous  impulses,  or  hurried  on  by  passion  or  pre- 
judice, they  often  commit  a  greater  wrong  than  the  crime  they  seek  to 
punish;  and  the  excesses  that  have  been  committed  in  some  of  the 
states  of  the  union  under  the  well  known  appellation  of  Lynch  law,  has 
already  stained  indelibly  the  paijes  of  our  history. 

There  is  no  position  that  calls  for  a  higher  degree  of  moral  courage, 
than  that  of  the  bench,  especially  under  the  system  of  an  elective  judi- 
ciary; and  in  a  case  where  the  judge  feels  it  to  be  his  duty  to  decide  an 
important  question  of  law  in  favor  of  the  accused,  surrounded  by  an 
incensed  community,  and  when  the  defendant  has  enjoyed  a  respectable 
standing  in  society. 

Such  was  the  situation  of  Judge  Parker,  on  the  occasion  referred  to. 
The  path  of  duty,  however,  lay  plain  before  him,  and  he  had  the  moral 
courage  to  pursue  it.  The  attack  speedily  followed.  In  a  city  where 
he  has  resided  for  years,  universally  esteemed  for  the  purity  of  his  life, 
the  amiability  of  his  character,  and  his  ability  as  a  judge,  he  was  sud- 


332  AM  ASA    J.    PARKER. 

denly  assailed  and  denounced ;  and  a  portion  of  the  local  press  either 
followed  or  led  the  assault.  But  the  recoil  is  already  apparent.  It 
needed  but  time  to  reflect,  and  candor  to  acknowledge  the  error  of  a 
hasty  opinion.  Even  during  the  heat  of  excitement,  those  beyond  its 
influence  were  ready  to  do  justice.  Letters  were  addressed  to  Judge 
Parker,  from  the  chairman  of  the  Judiciary  Committees  of  both  the 
branches  of  the  state  legislature,  then  in  sessions,  expressing  a  con- 
currence in  his  opinion  of  the  law,  and  approving  the  firmness  of  his 
course.  The  following  letter  from  the  Hon.  Samuel  J.  Wilkin,  the  dis- 
tinguished chairman  of  the  judiciary  committee  of  the  senate,  is  so 
happily  and  justly  expressive,  that  we  extract  it  from  the  newspapers  of 
the  day. 

Senate  Chamber,  Albany,  March  8, 1849. 
Hon.  A.  J.  Parker: 

Dear  Sir — I  noticed  a  few  days  since  in  one  of  the  papers  of  this 
city,  some  articles  impugning  your  decisions  in  the  recent  exciting  case 
of  the  People  v.  Olcott;  and  feeling,  in  common  with  every  citizen,  a 
deep  interest  in  the  faithful  and  upright  administration  of  the  law,  I  was 
induced  to  turn  my  attention  to  the  proceedings  of  the  trial  referred  to, 
and  to  your  decisions  on  the  points  of  law  arising  on  its  progress.  The 
result  of  my  examination  has  been  an  unqualified  approval  of  your  deci- 
sions. Any  other  determination  would,  in  my  humble  opinion,  have 
been  a  departure  from  well  settled  legal  principles. 

I  rejoice,  as  a  citizen,  the  more  in  the  decisions  you  have  made,  since 
they  manifest,  that  under  the  present  mode  of  choosing  judicial  officers, 
the  fears  entertained  by  many,  that  established  legal  principles  might 
yield  to  popular  excitement,  are  not  likely  to  be  realized;  and  allow  me 
to  express  the  beliefj  that  when  the  present  excitement  justly  produced 
by  most  flagrant  acts  of  delinquency,  shall  have  subsided,  your  decisions 
will  stand  fully  vindicated  by  those  who  now  condemn  them.  But 
whether  thus  vindicated  or  not,  your  stern  adherance  to  law  (so  necessary 
to  the  security  of  personal  rights,)  surrounded  by  popular  excitement, 
will  furnish  additional  cause  for  respect,  to  those  who  are  best  acquainted 
with  your  personal  and  judicial  character. 

Presuming  that  the  opinion  of  a  member  of  the  profession,  although 
humble,  might  not,  under  existing  circumstances,  be  unacceptable  to  you, 
I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  state  it. 

I  am,  sir,  with  great  respect, 

Your  humble  servant, 

SAML.  J.  WILKIN. 

A  select  committee  of  the  Assembly,  before  whom  the  subject  was 
brought,  state  in  their  report  in  regard  to  the  charge  to  the  jury  on  the 
trial  of  Olcott,  that  "  they  have  examined  the  charge  of  Mr.  Justice 
Parker,  and  they  are  well  satisfied  that  when  the  present  local  excite- 
ment shall  have  passed  away,  and  even  now,  beyond  the  reach  of  its 
influence,  public  opinion  will  award  him  the  full  credit  of  having  de- 
clared the  law  of  the  case  honestly  and  fearlessly,  regardless  of  personal 
consequences." 

These  letters  and  the  report  arc  from  gentlemen  entertaining  political 
opinions  differing  from  those  of  Judge  Parker.  Honest  men  of  all 
parties  prize  the  firm  and  faithful  administration  of  justice  as  above  all 
mere  partizan  advantages  and  attacks,  based  upon  hastily  formed  opi- 
nions, upon  our  judiciary,  are  sincerely  to  be  deprecated.     We  can  not 


r 


//ju  -i  y'/  /j  hc'w 


AMOS    PILSBURY.  383 

better  close  this  sketch  than  by  quoting  the  following  extract  of  a  letter 
written  by  Andrew  Stewart,  Esq.,  to  Lord  Mansfield: 

"  When  the  freedom  of  inquiry  now  contended  for  happens  to  be 
improperly  used,  it  Avill  be  found  that  the  mischief  carries  along  with 
it  its  own  remedy.  The  most  valuable  part  of  mankind  are  soon  dis- 
gusted with  unmerited  or  indecent  attacks  made  either  upon  judges  or 
individuals;  the  person  capable  of  such  conduct,  loses  his  aim ;  the  unjust 
or  illiberal  invective  returns  upon  himself;  and  the  judge  whose  conduct 
has  been  misrepresented,  instead  of  suffering  in  the  public  opinion,  will 
acquire  additional  credit  from  the  palpable  injustice  of  the  attack  made 
upon  him."  . 

N0TE. The  author  would  gladly  have  avoided  any  allusion  to  so  deli- 
cate a  subject,  but  his  duty  as  a  biographer  dictated  a  different  course. 
He  has  therefore  given  his  own  views,  which  he  believes  embrace  an 
impartial  statement  of  the  facts,  and  for  which,  of  course,  he  alone  is 
responsible. 


AMOS  PILSBURY, 

V^M|>0  celebrated  throughout  the  whole  country, 
'^fllpjtfft  as  a  prison-keeper  and  successful  manager 
y^iy  of  convicts,  was  born  at  Londonderry,  New 
^Hampshire,  on  the  8th  of  February,  1805.  His 
X  father,  Moses  C.  Pilsbury,  was  a  native  of  New- 
bury, Massachusetts.  His  mother  was  the 
grand-daughter  of  the  Rev.  John  Cleaveland,  who, 
for  more  than  half  a  century,  was  pastor  of  a  church 
in  the  town  of  Essex,  Massachusetts.  His  paternal 
grandfather  fought  at  Lexington  and  Bunker  Hill, 
and  continued  in  the  service  of  his  country  until 
the  close  of  the  war. 

Moses  C.  Pilsbury,  the  father  of  our  subject,  was 
emphatically  a  self-made  man,  and  his  life  affords  a 
striking  instance  of  the  power  of  perseverance. 
Taken  from  school  in  his  tenth  year,  he  worked  with 
his  father,  who  was  a  blacksmith,  and  on  the  farm, 
until  he  was  twenty-one.  On  that  day  he  left  home 
with  but  one  copper  in  his  pocket,  but  with  a  heart  full 


384  AMOS   PILSBURY. 

of  hope  and  a  strong  determination  to  conquer  every 
obstacle.  Traveling  between  thirty  and  forty  miles 
on  foot,  he  arrived  at  Newburyport,  where  he  en- 
gaged to  work  for  a  month  at  haying.  For  this  he 
received  eight  dollars,  to  which,  by  working  nights, 
he  added  two  dollars  more.  At  the  end  of  the 
month,  therefore,  he  was  in  possession  of  ten  silver 
dollars;  and  this  was  the  capital  of  the  man,  who 
subsequently  acquired  a  good  education  and  a  hand- 
some property;  who  faithfully  served  his  country 
as  an  officer  in  the  last  war  with  England,  and  who, 
since  that  time  until  his  death,  was  engaged  in  pub- 
lic business,  discharging  all  his  duties  with  accu- 
racy and  fidelity.  He  was  the  first  warden  of  a 
prison  who  caused  the  prisoners  to  earn  more 
than  their  own  support;  and,  to  his  honor  be  it 
said,  he  was  the  first  prison-keeper  who  introduced 
the  practice  of  reading  the  Bible  daily  to  the  pri- 
soners assembled.  In  the  language  of  a  celebrated 
writer  on  prison  discipline,  "Mr.  Pilsbury  was  the 
founder  and  head  of  improvements  in  our  prisons, 
at  least  in  the  New  England  states."  He  died  at 
Derry,  New  Hampshire,  in  June,  1848,  aged  seventy 
years.  He  was  much  beloved,  and  his  death  was 
much  lamented.  Few  men  have  attained  a  higher 
reputation  for  integrity  and  Christian  philanthropy. 
With  a  heart  overflowing  with  kindness  to  his  fel- 
low man,  it  was  no  wonder  that  his  memory  is 
cherished.     What  power  is  there  in  gentle  words! 

Amos  Pilsbury  attended  school  and  worked  on 
the  farm  until  his  thirteenth  year,  when  his  father, 
having  been  appointed  warden  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire state  prison,  removed  with  his  family  to  Con- 
cord, in  that  state.  The  next  season,  Amos  was 
sent  to  the  academy  in  Concord;  he  was  a  diffi- 
dent and  dull  scholar.  At  the  close  of  the  first 
term,  the  teacher  complained  that  his  pupil  had 
not  made  such  progress  as  was  desirable.     For  this, 


AMOS   PILSBURY.  385 

Amos  received  a  reprimand  from  his  father,  who 
told  him  that,  unless  he  could  make  up  his  mind  to 
apply  himself  more  closely,  he  should  be  under  the 
necessity  of  patting  him  to  a  trade.  To  this,  Amos 
replied,  that  he  would  rather  learn  a  trade  than  be 
kept  at  school.  The  very  next  day,  being  four- 
teen years  of  age,  he  found  himself  apprenticed  to 
the  tanning  and  currying  business,  in  a  neighboring 
town.  He  served  a  regular  apprenticeship  of  four 
years,  remaining  with  his  employer  until  the  failure 
of  the  concern.  He  then  wentto  Littleton,  Mass., 
where  he  worked  for  six  months  in  the  large  estab- 
lishment of  Benjamin  Dix,  Esquire.  His  object  was 
to  become  perfect  in  his  trade,  being  determined  to 
become  a  finished  workman  before  offering  himself 
as  a  journeyman. 

From  Littleton  he  proceeded  to  Boston,  seeking 
employment  in  all  the  large  establishments  in  that 
vicinity;  but  owing  to  the  market  being  overstocked, 
business  had  become  dull,  and  the  result  was,  that 
our  young  mechanic  was  offered  but  a  trifle  more 
than  common  laborers'  wages.  His  mind  was  at 
once  made  up;  and  with  his  characteristic  energy, 
he  resolved  that  he  would  never  work  a  day  at  a 
business,  the  knowledge  of  which  had  cost  him  so 
much  time  and  labor  to  acquire,  unless  he  could  com- 
mand a  better  remuneration.  He  returned  home, 
and  went  to  school.  Soon  afterwards,  in  April,  1824, 
he  accepted  the  offer  of  his  father  to  become  a 
watchman  or  guard  of  the  prison,  of  which  the  lat- 
ter was  warden,  and  here  commenced  his  career  in 
the  management  and  government  of  prisons,  for 
which  he  is  so  justly  celebrated,  and  which  has 
continued  to  be  the  business  of  his  life. 

At  this  time  he  was  but  nineteen  years  of  age. 
Having  performed  the  duty  of  guard  for  about  a 
year,  he  was,  with  the  approbation  of  the  governor 
and  council,  who  were  inspectors  of  the  prison,  ap- 
pointed deputy  warden. 
49 


386  AMOS    P1LSBURY. 

On  the  resignation  of  his  father  in  June,  1826, 
Mr.  Pilsbury,  at  the  request  of  the  governor  and 
council,  remained  with  his  successor  until  the  De- 
cember following* 

In  November,  1826,  Mr.  Pilsbury  was  married  to 
Miss  Emily  Heath,  daughter  of  Mr.  Laban  Heath. 
They  have  had  five  children,  two  only  of  whom  are 
now  living.  Mr.  Pilsbury  continued  to  reside  in 
Concord  and  its  vicinity  until  the  summer  of  the 
next  year,  at  which  time  his  father  and  himself 
were  solicited  to  take  charge  of  the  new  state  prison 
then  erecting  at  Wethersfield,  on  the  Connecticut 
river,  about  three  miles  from  Hartford.  In  July, 
1827,  he  commenced  as  deputy  under  his  father  as 
principal  warden  of  that  institution.  The  younger 
Mr.  Pilsbury  removed  the  prisoners  from  the  old,  or 
Newgate  prison,  to  the  new  establishment,  which 
was  completed  in  the  fall  of  that  year.  The  follow- 
ing notice  of  the  application  to  the  elder  Mr.  Pils- 
bury, to  take  charge  of  the  Connecticut  state  prison, 
is  from  the  report  of  the  Prison  discipline  society 
for  1827. 

"If  the  directors  shall  be  so  happy  hi  the  appointment  of  a  warden  as 
to  secure  the  services  of  Moses  Pilsbury,  Esq.,  formerly  warden  of  the 
prison  in  New  Hampshire,  to  whom  they  have  applied,  and  who  has  the 
subject  now  under  consideration,  we  confidently  anticipate  the  best  results 
from  this  experiment  on  the  penitentiary  system  in  Connecticut." 

From  the  report  of  1828,  we  take  the  following 
extract : 

"  Moses  C.  Pilsbury,  the  warden  of  the  new  prison  at  Wethersfield,  in 
addition  to  the  provision  which  he  makes  on  the  sabbath  for  public  wor- 
ship, regularly  reads  the  scriptures  to  the  assembled  convicts  every  morn- 
ing and  evening,  and  in  their  behalf  offers  prayers  to  the  Father  of  Mer- 
cies.    He  is,  besides,   faithful   in  counsel,  affectionate  in  sickness,  and 

*  The  estimate  placed  upon  his  services  at  that  time,  as  deputy  warden, 
may  be  seen  by  the  following  extract  from  a  communication  of  the  Hon. 
David  L.  Morrill,  who  was  then  governor  of  the  state,  he  says:  "The 
experience  and  ability  of  Amos  Pilsbury,  acquired  under  the  instruction 
of  his  father,  were  such  as  to  enable  him  not  only  to  assist  but  to  inform 
a  newly  appointed  warden ;  and  that  during  the  time  that  he  was  deputy 
warden  he  became  intimately  acquainted  with  his  conduct  and  ability  to 
perform  the  duties  of  deputy  warden,  and  was  well  satisfied  that  he  was  a 
faithful  and  efficient  officer,  and  highly  useful  to  the  institution." 


AMOS    PILSBURY.  387 

lovely  in  his  Christian  sympathies  towards  those  committed  to  his  care, 
without  losing  any  thing  in  his  prompt  and  successful  attention  to  busi- 
ness and  discipline.  He  mingles  authority  and  affection  in  his  go- 
vernment and  instructions,  so  that  the  principles  of  obedience  and  affec- 
tion flow  almost  spontaneously  towards  him  from  the  hearts  of  the  con- 
victs." 

Moses  C.  Pilsbury  continued  warden  of  this 
prison  until  April,  1830,  when  his  son  was  appoint- 
ed to  fill  his  place.  The  directors  in  their  report  to 
the  legislature  of  May,  1830,  speaking  of  his  resig- 
nation, say: 

"  It  ought  to  be  stated  that  when  Mr.  Pilsbury  was  first  appointed,  he 
gave  us  distinctly  to  understand  that  he  should  hold  the  office  but  for  two 
years,  which  term  he  has  more  than  accomplished." 

"He  left  the  charge  of  the  prison  on  the  21st  day  of  April,  1836,  and 
his  son  Mr.  Amos  Pilsbury,  who  had  been  deputy  warden  from  the  com- 
mencement, was  appointed  to  be  warden.  In  selecting  him,  we  were  in- 
fluenced principally  by  the  consideration  that  he  was  familiar  with  the 
discipline  and  routine  of  business,  although  he  had  not  been  acquainted 
with  the  financial  concerns  or  the  accounts.  We  should,  for  many  rea- 
sons have  been  better  satisfied  with  a  person  of  maturer  age.  We  hope, 
however,  he  may  be  found  to  possess  qualifications  which  will  outweigh 
the  objections  arising  from  his  youth." 

It  was  perhaps  not  strange  that  the  directors  had 
doubts  of  his  ability  to  maintain  the  institution  in 
its  then  flourishing  condition.  But  Mr.  Pilsbury, 
although  distrusting  his  own  capacity  for  the  situa- 
tion that  had  been  so  well  filled  by  his  father,  took 
the  place  of  warden  with  a  determination  that  if 
energy,  hard  labor,  and  constant  personal  attention 
to  the  duties  of  his  office  could  prevent  it,  neither 
the  interest  nor  the  reputation  of  the  institution 
should  suffer  on  account  of  his  youth. 

The  condition  of  the  prison  and  the  results  of  the 
two  first  years  of  his  administration  of  its  affairs, 
convinced  a  majority  of  the  directors  and  the  pub- 
lic generally,  that  Mr.  Pilsbury's  age  did  not  dis- 
qualify him  for  the  responsible  place  to  which  he 
had  been  called.  Gov.  Peters  in  his  message  to  the 
legislature,  May  1832,  says: 

"  The  friends  of  the  penitentiary  system,  have  great  reason  to  rejoice  at 
the  flattering  results  of  the  Connecticut  state  prison  during  the  past  year. 
After  paying  every  expense  incurred  for  the  support  and  management  of 
the  establishment,  there  remains  a  balance  in  favor  of  the  institution  of 
eight  thousand  seven  hundred  and  thirteen  dollars  fifty-three  cents ;  of 


388  AMOS    PILSBURY. 

which  sum  six  thousand  five  hundred  dollars  have  been  paid  into  the 
state  treasury." 

"  Should  the  concerns  of  the  prison  continue  to  be  managed  in  the  pre- 
sent faithful,  prudent  and  skilful  manner,  it  is  a  fair  presumption  that 
hereafter  there  will  be  an  annual  net  gain  to  the  state  from  the  institution 
of  ten  thousand  dollars." 

"  The  importance  of  maintaining  the  penitentiary  system  is  too  great, 
in  a  moral  and  humane,  as  well  as  in  a  pecuniary  point  of  view,  to  escape 
the  attention  of  the  legislature;  and  it  cannot  be  necessary  to  urge  per- 
severance in  pursuing  an  improvement,  in  the  penal  police  of  our  state, 
which  was  so  happily  commenced  and  which  has  been  followed  with 
such  signal  success." 

A  personal  difficulty,  which  had  occurred  soon 
after  his  appointment,  with  one  of  the  directors,  and 
which  had  been  very  annoying  and  unpleasant  to 
Mr.  Pilsbury,  resulted  in  his  removal  from  office  in 
September,  1832. 

A  thorough  investigation  was,  at  his  own  request, 
immediately  instituted  into  the  affairs  of  the  prison 
and  its  management,  by  a  committee  appointed  by 
the  legislature  of  the  state,  the  chairman  of  which 
was  the  Hon.  John  Q.  Wilson,  now,  and  for  many 
years  a  resident  of  Albany.  The  committee  made 
a  report  to  the  legislature  at  their  next  session ;  and 
so  well  satisfied  were  the  people  and  the  legislature 
of  the  injustice  done  to  Mr.  Pilsbnry,  that  he  was 
not  only  reappointed,  but  a  resolution  was  passed 
directing  the  treasurer  of  the  state  to  pay  to  him  the 
expenses  he  had  incurred  in  defending  himself 
against  the  charges  of  his  opponents,  and  four  hun- 
dred dollars  in  addition  thereto,  for  his  own  time. 

Mr.  Pilsbury  was  reappointed  in  June,  1833,  hav- 
ing been  absent  just  nine  months.  The  condition  of 
the  prison  during  his  absence,  and  at  the  time  of  his 
return,  may  be  gathered  from  the  following  extracts 
from  the  report  of  the  directors,  May,  183-1. 

"It  was  at  once  apparent  that  the  high  state  of  discipline,  which  had 
previously  prevailed  there,  was  very  much  impaired;  the  prisoners  were 
noisy,  bold,  and  disobedient.  The  want  of  firmness  and  energy  in  the 
administration  of  the  rules  of  the  institution,  had  produced  among  the 
prisoners  a  state  of  insubordination  approaching  to  anarchy." 

"The  prisoners  continued  openly  and  boldly  to  declare,  in  the  face  of 
the  directors,  their  determination  not  to  submit  to  any  control  unless 
they  were  heard  in  the  selection  of  a  warden.  This  disorderly  and  mu- 
tinous conduct  of  the  prisoners  was  the  result  of  a  conspiracy,  which  the 


AMOS   PILSBURY.  389 

directors  have  reason  to  believe  was  known  to  and  countenanced  by  some 
of  the  officers  of  the  prison."* 

"The  convicts  appeared  to  be  in  the  habit  of  fully  communicating  with 
each  other;  of  passing  and  repassing  from  the  different  shops,  and  of 
arranging  plans  of  united  operations.  The  under  keepers  were  permitted 
to  trade  with  the  convicts,  to  deliver  them  money;  and  for  what  is 
termed  over  work,  the  contractors  were  allowed  to  provide  them  with 
articles  of  food,  fruits  and  other  delicacies,  in  direct  violation  of  the  rules 
of  the  prison.  A  great  number  of  newspapers  in  which  the  affairs  of  the 
prison  were  discussed,  were  found  in  the  cells  and  workshops.  Such 
indulgencies  necessarily  resulted  in  the  utter  subversion  of  order,  and  a 
total  disregard  of  all  law  and  authority." 

"The  directors  had  no  hesitation  in  reappointing  Mr.  Pilsbury,  who 
had  been  removed  from  the  office  of  warden,  winch  he  had  previously 
held  for  a  number  of  years,  and  under  whose  government  the  disci- 
pline of  the  prison  had  acquired  a  very  high  and  deserved  degree  of 
celebrity.  Some  very  serious  charges  had  been  preferred  against  him 
by  a  member  of  a  preceding  board  of  directors,  and  the  investigation  in- 
stituted thereon  by  the  legislature,  resulted  in  a  complete  refutation  of  the 
charges,  and  in  furnishing  additional  and  honorable  evidence  of  his  fitness 
and  capacity  for  the  office.  He  has  had  charge  of  the  prison  since  the 
6th  of  June  last,  under  the  careful  supervision  of  the  directors,  and  they 
are  now  gratified  to  be  able  to  say  that  the  present  condition  of  the  prison, 
its  strict  and  admirable  discipline,  and  the  pecuniary  results  of  his  ad- 
ministration, prove  abundantly  that  their  confidence  was  not  misplaced." 

"  The  task  of  recovering  such  an  establishment  from  a  downward 
course,  and  of  bringing  it  into  profitable  operation,  was  attended  with 
great  difficulties  and  discouragements." 

"At  the  present  time  the  pecuniary  affairs  of  the  prison  are  in  a  very 
prosperous  condition." 

During  Mr.  Pilsbury' s  absence  from  the  prison, 
one  of  the  keepers  had  been  murdered  by  two  of 
the  prisoners,  for  which  they  were  afterwards  tried 
and  executed.  In  the  short  space  of  nine  months, 
one  of  the  most  flourishing- institutions  in  the  coun- 
try, had  been  nearly  ruined  by  mismanagement,  re- 
sulting from  the  change  that  had  taken  place  in  its 
government. 

From  this  time  to  January,  1845,  nearly  twelve 
years,  Mr.  Pilsbury  remained  as  warden,  to  the 
great  satisfaction  of  a  large  majority  of  the  people  of 

*  An  English  paper  in  allusion  to  this  want  of  discipline  in  prisons,  has  the  following  sarcas- 
tic hit  at  the  mzs.maiiagers  :• 

The  scene  is  within  a  prison.  One  of  the  gent'emen  convicts  smoking  a  cigar  in  a  warm 
bath  while  the  warden  brings  his  chocolate — another  is  having  his  hair  cut  a  la  mode,  and  the 
following  conversation  goes  on  between  a  turnkey  and  a  convict  in  a  dressing  gown  and  slip- 
pers, smoking  a  meersctiain,  and  drinking  now  and  then  from  a  mug  placed  upon  a  fashionable 
tepuy  nt  his  side  : 

"  The  governor  wishes  to  know,  sir,  what  exercise  you  will  take  to-day — whether  you  will 
pick  a  little  oakum,  or  take  a  turn  on  the  mill  for  a  short  time?" 

"Oh !  give  my  compliments  to  the  governor,  and  say,  I  shan't  come  out  to-day,  I  don't  feel 
very  well."  , 


390  AMOS    PILSBURY. 

Connecticut,  uninterrupted  by  the  political  changes 
that  frequently  took  place,  notwithstanding  that 
he  was  during  the  whole  of  that  time  surround- 
ed by  men  who  had,  for  sinister  purposes,  man- 
ifested great  hostility  towards  him.  An  interest- 
ing volume  might  be  made  out  of  the  incidents 
that  occurred  during  this  period  of  his  life,  but  we 
will  content  ourselves  with  a  few  of  the  many  ex- 
tracts from  the  reports  and  publications  of  the  time, 
shewing  the  estimate  placed  upon  his  services  as  a 
public  officer. 

Mr.  Pilsbury  having  made  the  Wethersfield  prison 
superior  to  any  similar  establishment  in  the  coun- 
try, next  turned  his  attention  to  the  improvement  of 
the  county  jails.  He  encouraged  the  building  of  new 
prisons  in  each  of  the  counties  of  the  state,  and 
through  his  recommendations,  the  legislature  au- 
thorized him  to  pay  from  the  surplus  earnings  of  the 
state  prison,  one  thousand  dollars  to  such  counties 
in  the  state  as  should  build  a  jail  on  the  plan  of  the 
new  prison  at  Hartford ;  and  he  soon  had  the  satis- 
faction of  knowing  that  Connecticut  possessed,  not 
only  the  model  state  prison,  but  the  best  county 
jails  in  the  country. 

The  following  extract,  referring  to  county  prisons, 
is  from  the  fourteenth  annual  report  of  the  Prison 
discipline  society,  published  at  Boston,  in  1839. 

"  In  this  good  work  of  a  thorough  reformation  in  her  county  jail,  Hart- 
ford county  has  taken  the  lead.  Her  old  prison,  where  so  many  unfortu- 
nate beings  have  received  the  finishing  touch  in  their  education  in  vice, 
is  converted  by  its  present  owners  into  the  busy  workshop.  A  commodi- 
ous prison  has  been  erected  in  its  stead  upon  the  general  plan  of  the 
state  prison  at  Wethersfield,  with  such  alterations  and  improvements  as 
the  experience  and  skill  of  the  very  intelligent  and  able  superintendent 
of  that  institution  could  suggest."  "  However  well  constructed  a  prison 
may  be,  and  however  admirable  the  system  introduced  therein,  complete 
success  can  scarcely  be  expected,  unless  a  keeper  be  employed  who  has 
imbibed  his  knowledge  at  the  fountain  head,  who  has  received  a  practical 
education  under  our  accomplished  instructor,  (Amos  Pilsbury)  at  Weth- 
ersfield." 

The  15th  annual  report  in  1840,  observes: 

"  From  the  cash  on  hand,  the  warden  (Amos  Pilsbury)  proposed  to  the 
last  general  assembly  to  pay  §1000  to  each  county  in  the  state  which 


AMOS   PILSBURY.  391 

would  build  a  county  prison  on  the  plan  of  that  in  Hartford.  A  com- 
mittee of  the  legislature  reported  in  favor  of  the  measure,  and  accom- 
panied the  report  with  a  resolution,  (which  passed,)  to  carry  the  measure 
into  effect." 

"  It  is  probably  the  most  important  measure  which  has  ever  been 
adopted  in  this  country  for  the  improvement  of  the  county  prisons. 
Amos  Pilsbury  and  his  father,  when  they  shall  see  in  future  time  the 
bearings  of  this  measure  in  promoting  the  improvement  of  county  prisons, 
not  only  in  Connecticut  but  throughout  the  land,  will  never  lament  the 
pains  they  have  taken,  and  the  economy  they  have  used,  to  obtain  favor- 
able pecuniary  results  in  the  Connecticut  state  prison." 

We  afterwards  find  Mr.  Pilsbury  engaged  in  im- 
proving the  condition  of  the  insane  poor,  especially 
that  of  the  insane  prisoners  under  his  care.  In  a 
communication  to  the  directors  in  1841,  he  sug- 
gested that  the  surplus  earnings  of  the  state  prison 
should  be  employed  in  erecting  and  supporting  an 
establishment  for  criminal  and  pauper  lunatics.  This 
was  sent  to  the  legislature  and  referred  to  a  joint 
committee ;  from  the  able  report  of  which  is  the  fol- 
lowing extract: 

"  If  the  state  should  adopt  the  humane  suggestion  of  our  respected 
warden  of  the  state  prison,  which  has  been  referred  to  your  committee, 
and  which  does  honor  to  his  head  and  his  heart,  theaditional  sum  which 
would  be  required  to  sustain  the  institution  hereafter,  would  be  compara- 
tively small  indeed." 

A  writer  in  the  Philadelphia  Courier,  in  1840, 
says : 

"  We  have  frequently  felt  as  if  we  were  doing  a  great  good  to  the  pub- 
lic by  citing  the  condition  of  the  Connecticut  state  prison,  as  an  institution 
which  has  shown  the  world  two  important  results.  1st.  That  corporeal 
punishment  is  not  necessary.  2d.  That  a  state  penitentiary,  with  proper 
management  may  not  only  be  supported  without  expense  to  the  com- 
monwealth, but  may  be  rendered  a  source  of  profit.  Capt.  Pilsbury,  the 
estimable  and  able  superintendent,  has  the  true  system  of  management. 
It  is  the  mild  sytem,  viz.,  that  which  appeals  to  the  better  instead  of  the 
worst  feelings  of  human  nature.  He  seldom  punishes,  but  when  he  does 
he  takes  especial  pains  to  show  the  criminal  that  he  regards  him  as  an 
unfortunate  human  being,  not  as  a  brute.  Here  is  the  mistake  made  in 
other  prisons.  We  speak  advisedly.  We  have  visited  and  studied  as 
many  penitentiaries  as  any  man  of  our  age.  Ever  have  we  considered 
prison  discipline  as  an  important  study  for  human  society." 

Capt.  Pilsbury,  on  one  occasion,  was  told  that  a  prisoner  who  had 
been  recently  committed  had  sworn  to  kill  him,  and  that  he  had  actually 
sharpened  his  razor  for  that  purpose.  Without  hesitancy,  he  sent  for  the 
man  to  come  to  his  office.  "  I  wish  you  to  shave  me,"  said  the  warden  • 
and  seating  himself  added  "  here  is  all  the  aparatus."  The  man  plead' 
a  want  of  skill.  "Never  mind,"  said  the  warden,  "you  are  not  intracta- 
ble, you  will  soon  learn,  and  I  intend  you  to  perform  my  toilet  daily:" 


392  AMOS    PILSBURY. 

The  man,  with  trembling  hands,  went  to  work;  he  performed  the  shav- 
ing poorly,  for  he  was  wholly  disarmed,  and  was  trembling  more  from 
fear,  blended  with  growing  confidence  lor  the  warden,  than  from  a  con- 
tinuance of  his  fell  purpose  to  take  his  life.  When  asked  the  next  day 
by  the  warden  why  he  did  not  cut  his  throat  when  he  was  shaving  him— 
as  he  said  he  woufd  do— exclaimed,  "  may  God  forgive  me,  but  I  did  in- 
tend to  kill  you  if  I  could  have  found  an  opportunity;  but  now  my  hatred 
is  broken  down." 

The  following  in  relation  to  the  same  incident,  is 
from  MissMartineau'sKetrospect  of  Western  Travel, 
published  in  London,  1838: 

"Capt.  Pilsbury  is  the  gentlemen  who,  on  being  told  that  a  desperate 
prisoner  had  sworn  to  murder  him,  speedily  sent  for  him  to  shave  him, 
allowing  no  one  to  be  present.  He  eyed  the  man,  pointed  to  the  razor 
and  desired  him  to  shave  him.  The  prisoner's  hand  trembled,  but  he 
went  through  it  very  well.  When  he  had  done  the  captain  said,  "  I  have 
been  told  you  meant  to  murder  me,  but  I  thought  1  might  trust  you." 
"  God  bless  yon,  sir!  you  may,"  replied  the  regenerated  man.  Such  is 
the  power  of  faith  in  man!" 

Neither  of  these  versions  are  wholly  correct, 
the  circumstances  as  narrated  to  the  writer  by  a 
person  who  was  then  connected  with  the  prison, 
were  these.  A  desperate  fellow  of  the  name  of 
Scott  alias  Teller,  was  sent  to  Wethersfield,  for 
fifteen  years;  he  had  previously  been  confined  in 
Sing  Sing  and  other  prisons.  He  was  determined 
not  to  work  or  submit  to  any  rules.  Of  course 
Captain  Pilsbury  treated  him  accordingly.  He 
very  soon  cut  one  of  his  hands  nearly  off,  on  pur- 
pose to  avoid  labor;  but  his  wound  was  immedi- 
ately attended  to,  and  in  less  than  one  hour  after- 
wards, he  found  himself  turning  a  large  crank  with 
one  hand;  it  was  then  that  he  declared  he  would 
murder  the  warden  on  the  very  first  opportunity. 
Soon  after  this,  the  regular  barber  of  the  prison 
being  sick,  and  Scott  who  had,  it  was  said,  when 
young  worked  at  that  trade,  was  directed  by  the 
deputy  warden  to  take  the  place  of  the  barber,  and 
shave  the  prisoners  throughout  the  establishment. 
Mr.  Pilsbury  on  going  into  the  shop  soon  after- 
wards, was  told  by  one  of  the  assistants,  that  the 
prisoners  did  not  like  to  be  shaved  by  this  man, 
he  had  behaved  very  bad  since  he  had  been  an 


AMOS    PILSBURY.  393 

inmate,  and  they  were  afraid  of  him.  Mr.  Pilsbury 
immediately  took  the  chair  and  directed  Scott  to 
shave  him  as  related  above. 

From  that  moment  he  became  one  of  the  best 
behaved  convicts  in  the  prison,  and  remained  so 
until  Mr.  Pilsbury  left  it,  in  November,  1832. 
Soon  after  the  appointment  of  a  new  warden,  Scott 
tried  to  escape,  and  murdered  one  of  the  keepers. 
For  this  crime  he  was  hung,   at  Hartford,   in   1833. 

In  1837,  the  directors  of  the  Connecticut  state 
prison,  say, 

"  That  nothing  has  occurred  during  the  year  to  diminish  the  confi- 
dence hitherto  expressed,  in  the  good  discipline  and  proper  manage- 
ment of  the  institution,  nor  to  detract  from  its  former  high  reputation. 
By  referring  to  the  warden's  report,  the  income  of  the  prison  for  each 
year,  since  it  has  been  in  operation,  may  be  ascertained  together 
with  the  disposition,  which  has  from  time  to  time,  been  made  of  riie 
income.  From  this  full  and  interesting  document  we  clearly  see  the 
importance  of  a  systematic  and  uniform  course  of  management,  that  it 
is  easy,  in  a  short  time,  so  to  impair  the  discipline  of  the"  prison,  as  not 
only  to  diminish  its  income,  but  to  require  years  of  good  manage- 
ment for  its  restoration.  The  income  of  the  prison  annually  increased 
from  its  first  establishment  at  Wethersfield,  until  the  year  1832,  when 
unfortunately  a  change  was  made  for  a  short  time,  of  the  officers  of  the 
institution,  and  consequently  of  its  discipline.  The  annual  income  was 
then  suddenly  reduced  from  $8,713.53  to  $1500.  Since  then  the  in- 
come has  again  yearly  increased,  until  it  now  nearly  equals  that  of  any 
former  period." 

In  the  report  of  the  same  officers  to  the  legislature, 
in  May,   1842,  they  remark, 

"We  should  do  injustice  to  the  warden  of  the  prison,  if  we  should 
omit  to  bear  testimony  to  his  superior  qualifications  for  the  arduous  and 
responsible  office  which  he  holds,  and  has  so  long  held  to  the  great  satis- 
faction of  a  large  majority  of  the  people  of  the  state,  discharging  all 
his  official  duties  with  great  ability,  with  fidelity  to  the  state,  with  hu- 
manity to  the  prisoners,  and  to  the  unqualified  acceptance  of  the  di- 
rectors; to  his  unrivaled  skill  and  singular  fitness  for  the  station  which 
he  holds,  that  the  gratifying  results  in  the  management  of  the  Con- 
necticut state  prison  are  mainly  attributable." 

A  writer,  in  his  suggestions  on  prison  manage- 
ment says, 

"  The  elder  Mr.  Pilsbury,  was  the  acknowledged  founder  of  the  im- 
proved system  of  prison  discipline,  at  least  so  far  as  New  England  is 
concerned.  Mr.  Pilsbury  the  younger,  was  educated  under  his  father's 
eye,  has  carried  into  operation  every  principle  and  rule  which  his  father 
found  so  eminently  successful  in  restraining  the  turbulent  scamps,  which 
the  law  has  swept  together  into  a  state  prison ;  he  has  very  much  im 
50 


394  AMOS    PILSBURY. 

proved  on  them,  and  is  now,  we  hesitate  not  to  say,  the  most  perfect 
state  prison  warden  to  be  found  in  the  United  States." 

In  speaking  of  the  prison,  he  says, 

"The  Connecticut  state  prison,  is,  as  conducted  by  Amos  Pilsbury, 
the  pride  of  the  state,  and  fearlessly  challenges  comparison  with  any 
similar  establishment  in  the  world." 

Extract  from  the  report  of  the  directors  of  the 
Connecticut  state  prison  to  the  legislature,  May, 
1843: 

"In  conclusion  the  directors  would  be  doing  violence  to  their  own 
feelings,  did  they  fail  to  express  their  gratification  at  the  admirable  man- 
ner in  which  the  warden  has  for  a  long  series  of  years  discharged  his 
arduous  duties  with  credit  to  himself  and  advantage  to  the  state.  As  a 
thorough  disciplinarian,  he  is  believed  to  be  unequalled  in  the  country; 
and  as  an  able,  faithful,  energetic  public  officer,  they  consider  him  de- 
serving of  the  highest  respect  and  commendation." 

Governor  Hill  of  New  Hampshire,  in  an  article 
published  in  1841,  observes: 

"  Mr.  Pilsbury  is  a  great  favorite  in  his  native  state,  owing  to  the  ad- 
mirable manner  in  which  for  twelve  years  past  he  has  discharged  the 
duties  of  his  office  (warden  of  the  state  prison  at  Wethersfield,  Conn.) 
The  younger  Mr.  Pilsbury  has  done  in  Connecticut  what  has  been  done 
in  no  other  penitentiary  of  this  country,  made  it  year  after  year,  and  every 
year,  a  source  of  profit  and  gain  to  the  state,  and  maintained  a  more  hu- 
mane and  more  effectual  discipline  in  the  labors  and  morals  of  the  con- 
victs, than  has  ever  been  presented  in  any  other  similar  institution  of 
this  country." 

"As  the  worthy  son  of  Moses  C.  Pilsbury,  Esq.,  the  most  indefatigable 
and  successful  warden  of  the  New  Hampshire  state  prison,  ever  at  the 
head  of  that  institution,  Capt.  Amos  Pilsbury  has  managed  the  Con- 
necticut penitentiary  at  Wethersfield  with  results  such  as,  becoming  a 
matter  of  history,  have  elicited  the  surprise  and  admiration  of  the  whole 
country." 

The  late  Hon.  Roger  M.  Sherman,  in  a  report 
which  has  been  published,  speaking  of  the  Connec- 
ticut state  prison,  makes  the  following  remarks: 

"Instead  of  being  a  charge  on  the  treasury,  it  is  a  source  of  revenue. 
In  ten  years  the  net  earnings,  above  all  expenses,  have  been  sufficient  to 
pay  every  expense  of  Us  erection,  support,  and  management,  and  leave  a 
surplus  on  hand  of  over  $10,000.  The  state,  however,  is  greatly  indebted 
to  the  Messrs.  Pilsbury  lor  their  superior  skill  in  conducting  the  institu- 
tion. By  one  who  was  competent  to  judge,  and  had  made  extensive 
inquiry  in  this  country  and  in  Europe,  they  have  been  pronounced  the 
best  prison  keepers  in  the  world." 

From  a  report  made  to  the  legislature  of  Connecti- 
cut, in  May,  1844,  by  the  directors  of  the  state  pri- 


AMOS    PILSBURY.  395 

son,  it  appeared,  that  in  the  seventeen  years  it  had 
been  in  operation,  (during  three  of  which  it  was 
under  the  government  of  his  father,)  the  income  or 
profits  thereof,  after  defraying  every  expense  for  the 
support  and  management  of  the  convicts,  amounted 
in  the  aggregate  to  the  enormous  sum  of  ninety-three 
thousand  dollars:  and  that,  with  the  exception  of  the 
interval  of  nine  months,  in  which  Mr.  Pilsbury  had 
been  removed,  as  before  mentioned,  (in  which  time 
a  loss  of  nearly  $1,000  had  occurred,)  the  profits  had 
been  nearly  uniform  in  each  year,  while  its  disci- 
pline  and   other   beneficial  effects  had   continued 
steadily  to  advance.     At  this  time  it  was  universally 
admitted,  that  the  Connecticut  institution,  in  regard 
to  its  reformatory  influences  and  general  good  man- 
agement, was  the  pattern  prison  of  the  land,  and  it 
was  held  up  far  and  wide  as  a  model  for  imitation. 
When  its  pecuniary  results  for  the  seventeen  years 
of  its  existence  were  compared  with  those  of  the 
former  mode,  for  the  same  period  of  time  immedi- 
ately preceding  its  final  abolishment,    the   conse- 
quences were  still  more  extraordinary.     From  1810 
to  1827,  (seventeen  years,)  the  money  drawn  from 
the  state  treasury  for  the  expenses  attending  the 
support  of  the  old  Newgate  prison,  over  and  above 
its  earnings,  had  been  upwards  of  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars;  thus  making  the  differ- 
ence, or  gain,  to  the  state  in  the    maintenance  of 
its  convicts  during  the  establishment  of  the  Weth- 
ersfield  prison,  under  the  management  of  Mr.  Pils- 
bury, amount  to  more  than  two  hundred  and  eighteen 
thousand  dollars.     And  the  directors  further  observe : 

"  This  immense  saving  we  conceive  to  be  comparatively  but  a  small 
item,  when  we  consider  the  incalculable  benefits  resulting  from  the  mo- 
ral reformation  of  the  convicts." 

From  these  large  earnings  of  the  Wethersfield 
prison,  more  than  forty-three  thousand  dollars  was 
paid  into  the  state  treasury ;  fifteen  thousand  dollars 


396  AMOS    PILSBURY. 

was  expended  in  new  buildings  and  improvements 
to  the  prison  itself,  and  the  balance  appropriated 
towards  the  erection  of  county  jails  throughout  the  state, 
and  for  other  purposes. 

The  publication  of  this  report  caused  a  great  sensa- 
tion. It  excited  attention  not  only  in  Connecti- 
cut, but  throughout  the  Union.  That  the  labor  of 
convicts  in  a  prison  should  be  sufficiently  produc- 
tive for  its  own  support,  although  rarely  attained, 
could  be  comprehended  and  satisfactorily  under- 
stood; but  that  it  should  yield  such  an  ample,  direct 
and  tangible  revenue,  besides,  as  to  be  sensibly  felt 
in  defraying  the  ordinary  expenses  of  a  large  state 
government,  was  a  new  and  astonishing  feature 
in  civil  polity.  It  was  so  viewed  and  by  com- 
mon consent  Mr.  Pilsbury  was  looked  upon  as 
an  extraordinary  individual.  In  the  language  of  a 
well-known  citizen  of  Massachusetts,  addressed  to 
the  writer  of  this  sketch — 

"No  other  man  in  this,  or  any  other  country,  has  ever  shown  such  re- 
sults for  so  long  a  course  of  time,  so  far  as  my  knowledge  and  observation 
extends,  as  Amos  Pilsbury." 

A  newspaper  article  at  the  same  time  remarked  : 

"  It  is  seldom  a  man  finds  his  right  place  in  the  world,  but  it  is  quite 
certain  that  Mr.  Pilsbury  has  found  his,  as  the  manager  of  a  prison." 

His  character  was  established — his  talents  ac- 
knowledged. The  Wethersfield  prison,  and  its 
warden,  became  objects  of  interest  abroad,  as  well 
as  at  home.  The  most  eminent  men  of  the  day 
courted  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Pilsbury,  and  sought 
his  correspondence,  in  which  he  soon  became  ex- 
tensively engaged.  A  communication  from  the 
honorable  John  W.  Edmonds,  at  that  time  one  of 
the  inspectors  of  the  Sing-Sing  prison,  New  York, 
possessed  peculiar  interest,  was  published  at  Hart- 
ford, in  September,  1844,  and  was  extensively  copied. 
Its  great  length  forbids  its  introduction  here. 


AMOS   PILSBURY.  397 

After  having  directed  its  concerns  and  been  con- 
nected with  its  management  nearly  eighteen  years, 
Mr.  Pilsbury  left  the  Wethersfield  prison  on  the  first 
day  of  January,  1845.  For  financial  prosperity  and 
every  other  excellence,  it  had  not  at  that  time  its 
equal  in  America.  His  last  report  to  the  directors 
(being  for  only  nine  months  of  the  fiscal  year,)  con- 
tains the  following  paragraph: 

"  I  herewith  hand  you  my  report  of  the  income  and  expenditures  of 
the  institution  for  the  nine  months  ending  December  31st,  1844.  It  will 
be  seen  by  the  several  statements  annexed,  that  the  nett  profit  during 
this  time  is  six  thousand  one  hundred  and  seventy-three  dollars  and 
thirty-nine  cents;  that  I  have  paid  into  the  state  treasury  the  sum  of 
ten  thousand  dollars  in  cash ;  that  the  institution  is  entirely  free  of  debt ; 
and  that  I  have  passed  over  to  my  successor  in  office,  in  cash,  property 
and  accounts,  $22,636-54,  for  which  I  hold  his  receipt." 

Mr.  Pilsbury  then  moved  to  Albany,  on  the  in- 
vitation of  the  commissioners  appointed  by  the 
legislature  of  the  state  of  New  York  to  construct 
a  penitentiary.  He  engaged  with  them  in  that 
enterprise,  and  when  the  buildings  there  were 
so  far  completed  as  to  allow  the  confinement  of 
prisoners  therein,  was,  without  solicitation  on  his 
part,  unanimously  appointed  by  the  city  and  county 
authorities  its  superintendent  for  three  years,  with 
almost  unlimited  powers. 

The  commissioners,  the  city  and  county  of  Albany, 
and  the  state  of  New  York  at  large,  are  much  in- 
debted to  Mr.  Pilsbury  for  the  prosperous  prosecution 
and  consummation  of  a  design,  which,  although  in 
one  sense  local,  was  intended  to  produce,  and  is 
effecting,  a  revolution  in  the  prison  management  of 
the  whole  state.  It  is  the  pioneer  of  a  new  system 
which  will  ultimately  prevail  throughout  that  great 
commonwealth. 

In  relation  to  this  subject,  a  distinguished  indivi- 
dual, whose  life  has  been  devoted  to  the  study  of 
prison  discipline,  not  only  in  his  own  but  in  foreign 
lands,  and  who  has  personally  inspected  and  seen 
all  the  prisons  of  any  note  in  Europe  as  well  as  those 
of  America,  remarks : 


398  AMOS    PILSBURY. 

"  It  will  make  a  difference  of  a  million  of  dollars,  in  my  opinion,  to  the 
state  of  New  York,  whether  Mr.  Pilsbury's  services  are  secured  as  a 
prison  keeper  for  that  state  or  not.  His  high  qualifications  would  be  of 
great  consequence  in  the  first  place  to  the  county  of  Albany,  and  through 
the  county  of  Albany  as  the  great  centre,  to  all  the  other  counties  of  the 
state." 

Mr.  Pilsbury  is  now  at  the  head  of  the  Albany 
institution,  having  recently  been  reappointed  for  a 
second  term.  With  the  citizens  of  that  important 
capital  he  is  extremely  popular.  The  benevolence 
and  philanthropy  of  his  character  are  known  and 
felt  in  every  community  of  which  he  has  been  a 
member.  The  authorities  of  Albany  with  a  wise 
discrimination  appreciate  his  value,  as  has  been 
evinced  by  two  consecutive,  unanimous  and  unso- 
licited appointments  of  three  years  each  to  the 
station  he  holds,  and  on  the  last  occasion  by  a 
large  and  voluntary  addition  to  his  salary.  These 
acts,  among  a  people  distinguished  above  others  for 
the  bestowment  of  office  entirely  on  political  grounds 
and  for  political  considerations,  are  high  evidences 
of  his  worth.  Men  of  all  parties  have  united  in 
paying  tribute  to  his  talents,  and  nothing  could  be 
more  °deplored  by  them  than  the  loss  of  his  ser- 
vices. Mr.  Pilsbury  on  his  part  has  fully  recipro- 
cated this  feeling  of  attachment  and  confidence 
by  declining  several  advantageous  offers  from  other 

quarters. 

He  is  now  in  his  forty-fifth  year,  in  robust  health, 
with  a  fair  prospect,  in  this  respect,  of  ability  for 
future  usefulness.  His  personal  appearance  and 
manners  are  highly  prepossessing.  None  can  ap- 
proach him  without  soon  being  conscious  of  the 
presence  of  a  superior  man. 


ELTON    R.    SMILIE.  399 


ELTON  R.  SMILIE. 

HE  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  August 
17th,  1820,  at  South  Reading,  Massachu- 
setts. He  is  descended  on  his  father's  side, 
?from  an  ancient  Scotch  family.  His  maternal 
^  ancestors  were  English.  Doctor  David  Smilie,* 
his  grandfather,  was  born  at  Dunstable,  New 
Hampshire,  in  1759.  After  completing  his  medical 
education,  Dr.  David  settled  in  Peterboro',  New 
Hampshire,  where  he  has  been  engaged  in  success- 
ful practice  down  to  the  present  time,  gaining  more 
than  usual  celebrity  in  the  treatment  of  chronic 
complaints.  And  although  now  fairly  entered  upon 
the  last  stage  towards  the  final  completion  of  his 
century  of  life,  he  remains  hale  and  hearty  in  the 
full  enjoyment  of  all  his  faculties,  which  he  still 
holds  capable  of  improvement  under  the  patronage 
of  a  retentive  memory. 

John  Smilie,  the  father  of  Dr.  Elton,  was  born  in 
1791,  and  was  the  third  child  of  his  parents.  He 
early  exhibited  a  strong  taste  for  mechanics,  which 
he  has  since  pursued  in  many  of  its  departments 
with  success.  And  notwithstanding  the  trials  and 
disappointments  attending  the  life  of  an  invalid,  he 
has  been  enabled  to  secure  a  competence  with  the 
esteem  of  his  fellow  townsmen.  Dr.  Elton  It. 
Smilie,  his  son,  received  his  early  education  in  the 
public  schools  and  junior  departments  of  the  Baptist 
seminary,  then  in  successful  operation  in  his  native 
place,  under  the  charge  of  Professor  Stevens,  and 
Messrs.  Heath  and  Carter,  and  designed  to  prepare 
students  for  the  ministry.  He  afterwards  continued 
his  preparatory  studies  alternately  at  Hancock,  New 
Hampshire,  and  his  native  village.  When  pro- 
nounced competent  by  his  instructors,  to  enter  the 

*  The  original  way  of  spelling  his  name  was  Smellie. 


400  ELTON    R.    SMILIE. 

sophomore  class,  he  was  induced  to  forego  his  colle- 
giate course  and  commence  at  once  the  study  of 
medicine,  as  that  was  the  profession  he  intended  to 
follow. 

He  accordingly  entered  his  name  with  his  grand- 
father, completing  his  professional  studies  under  the 
tuition  of  Professor  McClintock,  now  of  the  Phila- 
delphia college  of  medicine,  and  received  his  degree 
in  course  at  the  Castleton  medical  college,  when 
entering  upon  his  twenty-second  year.  Immediately 
after  his  graduation  he  commenced  the  practice  of 
medicine  in  Derry,  New  Hampshire,  and  continued 
his  residence  there  three  years,  during  which  time 
he  made  many  valuable  improvements  in  surgical 
instruments.,  among  which  may  be  enumerated  his 
needle  for  closing  up  cleft  palates,  seton  and  autop- 
sical  needles,  obstetrical  instruments,  &c.  These 
inventions  have  gained  for  him  a  high  reputation 
for  ingenuity,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  with  the 
compliments  of  many  distinguished  members  of  the 
profession. 

He  also  perfected  a  method  for  producing  artificial 
petrifaction,  which  can  be  practically  applied  to 
remove  one  of  the  strong  objections  to  city  burials; 
and  from  its  powerful  qualities  as  an  antiseptic, 
when  free  from  mechanico-chemical  combination, 
it  is  susceptible  of  being  made  useful  in  a.  variety  of 
ways.  From  Derry  he  removed  to  Northampton, 
Massachusetts,  hoping  that  a  change  of  air  and 
scenes  might  restore  his  health,  which  had  become 
gradually  undermined  from  fatigue  and  over  anxiety 
attendant  upon  his  duties.  But  from  the  unfavorable 
character  of  the  season  selected  for  the  change,  he 
soon  became  so  reduced  in  health  as  to  be  obliged 
for  a  time  to  renounce  practice  altogether.  After 
leaving  Northampton  he  suffered  from  a  long  con- 
tinued attack  of  typhus  fever.  On  his  recovery  he 
again  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  in 
Boston,  Massachusetts,  where  he  still  resides. 


ELTON   R.    SMILIE.  401 

While  a  resident  of  Deny,  Dr.  E.  R.  Smilie,  claims  to  have  heen  the 
first  discoverer  of  the  anaesthetic  property  of  ether,  from  its  administra- 
tion in  combination  with  opium.  But  laboring  under  the  impression 
that  insensibility  was  produced  through  the  agency  of  the  drug,  by  being 
brought  in  direct  contact  with  the  circulating  fluid  from  the  elasticity  of 
the  vapor  employed,  he  overlooked  in  a  measure  the  true  cause,  and 
attributed  the  novel  effect  to  the  combination,  which  he  immediately 
described  to  his  medical  friends. 

In  the  spring  of  1846,  being  engaged  in  conversation  with  J.  Clough, 
M,  D.,  upon  the  advantage  that  would  be  derived  from  painless  surgical 
operations,  he  recommended  the  use  of  the  above  combination  he  had 
previously  tried,  to  aid  in  the  extraction  of  teeth.  But  from  the  then 
apparent  hazard  likely  to  be  incurred  by  the  experiment,  it  was  not  ven- 
tured upon  until  the  succeeding  tall,  when  Dr.  S.  published  in  the  Boston 
Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,  for  October,  1846,  an  account  of  its  effect 
upon  the  animal  system.  And  on  the  thirteenth  of  November,  the  month 
succeeding,  sold  his  right  and  title  to  the  discovery  to  W.  T.  G.  Morton, 
who  has  since  claimed  to  be  the  original  discoverer. 

The  numerous  friends  of  Dr.  Smilie  claim  that  the  earliest  application 
of  ether  combined  with  opium,  was  made  by  him  in  1844,  although  no 
account  of  it  was  published  at  the  time.  A  written  statement,  however, 
concerning  it  was  subsequently  given  by  Dr.  Alvah  Blaisdell,  a  well 
known  dentist  of  Boston,  and  which  fully  substantiates  the  claim.  At 
the  same  period,  another  statement,  corroborative  of  the  same  facts  in  all 
their  essential  particulars,  was  made  by  Dr.  John  Clough,  a  dentist  well 
known  in  Boston. 

As  heretofore  remarked,  the  first  printed  announcement  of  the  dis- 
covery of  the  application  of  ether  in  surgical  operations  was  made  in 
Boston  by  Dr.  E.  R.  Smilie,  and  it  attracted  great  attention  in  the  medi- 
cal world.  It  was  communicated  by  him,  and  published  in  the  Boston 
Medical  Journal  of  October  28,  1846. 

In  November,  1846,  the  next  month  after  the  above  announcement 
was  made,  Dr.  Smilie,  who  had  been  advised  to  take  out  letters  patent 
for  this  discovery,  sold  out  his  interest  to  W.  T.  G.  Morton ;  with  the 
stipulated  agreement,  however,  that  the  right  to  use  it  in  his  own  prac- 
tice should  be  reserved  to  Dr.  Smilie,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  contract,  of 
which  the  following  is  a  copy. 

"Whereas,  E.  R.  Smilie,  of  Boston,  in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  and  state 
of  Massachusetts,  has  alleged  that  he  has  heretofore  applied  an  ethereal 
solution  of  opium,  (by  inhalation,)  in  surgical  operations,  and  has  made 
application  for  a  patent  therefor  and  has  assigned  his  interest  therein, 
and  in  the  discovery,  so  far  as  it  is  susceptible  of  being  secured  by  a 
patent ;  now,  therefore,  in  consideration  thereof,  I,  W.  T.  G.  Morton, 
do  hereby  license  and  empower  the  said  E.  R.  Smilie  to  use  the  said 
ethereal  solution  of  opium,  (as  set  forth  in  his  specification  for  a  patent,) 
in  the  surgical  operations  of  his  practice. 

In  witness  whereof,  I  have  hereunto  set  my  signature  and  seal,  this 
thirteenth  day  of  November,  A.  D.,  1846. 

(Signed,)        W.  T.  G.  MORTON.        [Seal.] 

Witness,  Caleb  Eddy." 

On  the  17th  of  May,  1848,  Dr.  Smilie  delivered  an  address  before  the 
class  of  the  Castleton  medical  college,  "  on  the  history  of  the  original 
application  of  anaesthetic  agents."  This  was  done  in  accordance  with 
the  invitation  of  the  professors  of  that  excellent  institution ;  and  was 
afterwards  published  at  their  request  and  that  of  the  class. 
51 


402 


FORDYCE   HITCHCOCK. 


FORDYCE  HITCHCOCK. 

Child !  in  whose  rejoicing  heart 
The  cradle  scene  is  fresh — the  lulling  hymn 
Still  clearly  echoed;  when  the  blight  of  age 
Withereth  that  bosom,  where  thy  head  doth  lay — 
Witt  thou  forget?     Witt  thou  be  weary! 

>1ffii|/pHAT  a  scene  of  moral  beauty  is  beheld 
b"Jiil§?  wnen  a  child  is  seen  administering  to  the 
^pyjp*  comforts  of  his  aged  parents.  And  with 
|P  truth  has  it  been  said,  "  I  defy  you  to  show  me 
^h  a  son  that  has  discharged  his  duty  to  those  who 


FORDYCE   HITCHCOCK.  403 

cherished  him  in  infancy,  who  ever  permanently- 
failed  in  the  honest  and  laudable  pursuits  of  life." 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  affords  an  admirable 
illustration  of  the  truth  of  the  above  remark.  Now 
a  prosperous  merchant  of  New  York,  his  aged  pa- 
rents, an  impotent  brother,  and  a  maiden  sister, 
have  long  found  in  him,  alike  a  staff' to  old  age,  and 
a  support  in  affliction. 

Mr.  Hitchcock  was  born  at  Danbury,  in  the  state 
of  Connecticut ;  and  being  one  of  a  large  family  of 
children,  was  early  thrown  upon  his  own  resources, 
both  for  his  support  and  education.  Many  were  the 
hardships  he  underwent;  but  he  persevered  through 
them  all,  and  in  the  darkest  hours,  he  ever  "  looked 
towards  the  light." 

In  1842,  he  removed  to  New  York  city,  and  in 
the  following  year,  he  became  manager's  assistant 
in  the  American  Museum.  In  this  capacity  he 
served  for  eight  months,  after  which,  on  the  depart- 
ure of  Mr.  Barnum,  the  proprietor,  for  Europe,  he 
assumed  the  entire  management  of  the  concern. 

His  quick  and  ready  judgment  enabled  him  to 
see,  at  a  glance,  the  result  of  everything  connected 
with  his  business,  together  with  all  its  various  bear- 
ings; and  seeing  them,  his  untiring  energy  and 
indomitable  perseverance  carried  through  every 
measure  he  adopted,  and  brought  in  a  golden  har- 
vest to  the  treasury  of  that  establishment. 

On  his  retirement  from  the  Museum,  he  carried 
with  him  the  best  wishes  as  well  as  the  most  hearty 
sympathies  of  every  person  connected  with  it,  as 
was  attested  by  the  presentation  to  him,  by  the 
wealthy  proprietor  and  employees,  of  a  service  of 
splendid  silver  plate. 

As  a  merchant,  his  habits  of  industry,  and  urba- 
nity and  benevolence  can  not  fail  of  ensuring  suc- 
cess. 


404  SAMUEL    GREGG. 


SAMUEL  GREGG. 

"  Oh,  if  people  would  take  as  much  pains  to  do  good  as  they  take  to 
do  evil— *if  even  the  well-disposed  were  as  zealous  in  the  beneficence,  as 
the  wicked  are  energetic  in  doing  wrong — what  a  pleasant  little  clod  tliis 
earth  of  ours  would  be  for  us  human  crickets  to  go  chirping  about  from 
morning  till  night !" 

OCTOR  GREGG,  a  man  who   has   lived 
more  for  others  than  for  himself,  was  born 
at  New  Boston,  New  Hampshire,  in   1799, 
respectable  parentage.     His  father,  a  man  of 
more  than  ordinary  endowments,  and  a  great 
mechanical  genius,  was  of  Scotch-Irish  ances- 
try. 

His  son,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  left  moth- 
erless at  a  very  early  period,  he  being  the  youngest 
of  six  children.  In  his  boyhood  he  gave  indications 
of  great  powers,  and  in  this  respect  the  expectations 
of  his  friends  have  not  been  disappointed.  The  com- 
munity in  which  he  has  lived,  and  among  whom  he 
has  acted  so  well  his  part,  and  has  become  so  ex- 
tensively known  as  a  highly  respectable  practitioner 
of  both  schools,  will  readily  award  him  this  meed 
of  praise,  for  his  energetic  efforts  in  furtherance  of 
the  public  weal.  The  point  on  which  turned  his 
literary  and  useful  career,  was  an  accident  by  which 
one  of  his  lower  limbs  was  severely  fractured,  and 
which  disabled  him  for  a  more  laborious  occupa- 
tion. 

He  received  an  academical  education  preparatory 
for  college ;  but  having  arrived  at  that  age  when 
the  energies  of  the  mind  should  be  put  forth  in  the 
pursuit  of  some  useful  profession,  he  directed  his 
attention  to  the  study  of  medicine.  He  received  his 
medical  degree  at  Dartmouth  college,  New  Hamp- 
shire, in  the  autumn  of  1824.  He  then  entered 
upon  a  career  of  allopathic  practice  at  Medford,  a 
few  miles  from  Boston,  Massachusetts,  where  for 


SAMUEL    GREGG.  405 

about  fifteen  years  he  has  enjoyed  a  very  extensive 
practice. 

In  1837,  he  formed  an  acquaintance  with  Doctor 
Vandenburgh  of  the  city  of  New  York,  then  pre- 
eminently before  the  public  as  a  setter  forth  of  the 
new  theory  of  homseopathy ;  and  from  the  favorable 
impression  which  Doctor  Gregg-  then  received  of  the 
utility  of  the  new  school  theory  in  the  healing  art, 
he  has  indefatigably  devoted  his  time  and  abilties 
in  the  practice  and  propagation  of  the  new  school 
doctrines ;  and  from  the  first  adoption  of  his  favorite 
system,  maintains  his  opinions  which  no  sophistry 
of  the  old  school  men  can  shake,  although  for 
nearly  a  year,  he  was  the  sole  advocate  of  his 
adopted  theory.  He  has  thus  practically  sustain- 
ed the  correctness  of  the  principle,  amid  the  jeers, 
and  ridicule  of  his  professional  cotemporaries,  until 
he  has  now  attained  to  an  enviable  distinction 
in  the  medical  profession.  His  professional  atten- 
tion has  ever  been  equally  assiduous,  or  even  greater 
to  those  unable  to  compensate  him  for  his  services, 
than  to  those  who  are  affluent,  on  the  philanthropic 
principle,  that  the  poor  are  less  able  to  be  sick.  In 
politics,  he  has  always  been  a  staunch,  but  retiring 
advocate  for  the  Jeffersonian  principle  of  freedom  of 
thought,  and  equality  in  privilege,  but,  a  contemner 
of  all  political  demagogues  of  whatever  name,  or 
party.  Doctor  Gregg  was  married  to  Miss  Ruth 
Wadsworth  Richards,  daughter  of  Mr.  Luther  Rich- 
ards of  New  Boston,  New  Hampshire,  and  from  this 
union,  sprang  ten  children.  From  this  number,  six 
survive,  one  son,  and  five  daughters.  The  mantle 
of  the  father  has  not  fallen  upon  the  son  in  the 
choice  of  a  profession.  Samuel  Wadsworth  Gregg, 
choosing  for  himself  the  pursuit  of  a  mercantile 
course,  as  one  more  congenial  to  his  taste,  and  af- 
fording a  greater  scope  to  the  more  than  ordinary 
aptitude  which  he  exhibits  in  the  counting  room. 
He  is  a  young  man  having  entered  his  22 d  year,  of 


406  WILLARD   IVES. 

fine  exterior,  and  possessing  that  urbanity  of  man- 
ners, which  will  give  him  currency  in  any  rank  of 
society.  Doctor  Gregg  is  not  unmindful  to  the 
Giver  of  all  good,  that  He  has  given  him  a  happy 
family  of  children,  rich  in  endowment  of  mind,  and 
person,  giving  the  cheering  prospect,  that  as  they 
go  onward,  fufilling  the  great  purpose  of  life,  they 
will  descend  to  the  grave,  leaving  a  stainless  repu- 
tation worthy  the  memory  of  their  progenitors. 


WILLAKD  IVES, 


c 


i^F  Watertown,  Jefferson  county,  New  York, 
1  is  a  man  whose  history,  simple  and  unpre- 
tending, is  identical  with  that  of  a  large 
JpZclass  of  the  most  useful  members  of  society. 
'M  He  is,  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word,  a  farmer. 
Blessed  with  a  competence  which  places  him 
beyond  the  apprehension  of  want,  the  owner  of 
extensive  and  valuable  farming  lands  lying  contigu- 
ous to  the  flourishing  village  of  Watertown,  he 
prosecutes  the  occupation  of  agriculture  with  his 
own  hands,  thus  giving  a  practical  repudiation  to  the 
anti-republican  assumption,  that  labor  is  degrading, 
and  at  war  with  true  dignity.  That  the  sympathies 
of  Mr.  Ives  are  preeminently  with  the  producing 
classes,  is  evidenced,  not,  as  in  too  many  instances, 
by  mere  empty  professions,  but  by  the  high  force  of 
practical  example. 

The  subject  of  this  notice  is  of  New  England  ex- 
traction. His  grand-father,  Mr.  Jotham  Ives,  born 
in  Cheshire,  Connecticut,  in  1743,  removed,  early 
in  life  to  Torrington,  Litchfield  county,  where  he 
spent  his  days,  almost  exclusively,  in  agricultural 
pursuits.  His  third  son,  Titus,  was  born  in  Decem- 
ber, 1778.     In  1801,  (at  the  early  age  of  twenty- 


WILLARD   IVES.  407 

three)  Titus  Ives  removed  to  Watertown,  New  York, 
and  selected  the  lands  now  occupied  by  the  subject 
of  this  notice,  which  he  made  his  permanent  home. 
The  fertile  and  wealthy  region  now  known  as  the 
black  river  country,  was,  at  that  time  an  unknown 
wilderness;  and  to  Mr.  Ives  belongs  the  credit  of 
having  been  one  of  the  pioneers  by  whose  persever- 
ance and  energy;  pleasant  fields  and  thriving  villa- 
ges have  been  carved  out  of  that  unbroken  wilder- 
ness. 

Willard  Ives,  the  subject  of  this  notice,  was  born 
July  7,  1806,  at  the  place  of  his  present  residence. 
He  was  limited  in  the  means  of  education  to  the 
indifferent  common  schools  afforded  by  a  new 
country,  and,  in  the  humble  district  school-house, 
(with  the  exception  of  a  short  time  spent  at  an 
academy  in  Lowville,)  his  education  was  com- 
menced and  completed.  He  was  married  Decem- 
ber 27th,  1827.  Devotedly  attached  to  the  faith 
and  discipline  of  the  Methodist  denomination  of 
Christians,  he  was  selected,  in  1846,  by  the  Black 
River  conference,  to  represent  them  in  the  World's 
convention,  held  that  year  in  London.  In  the  dis- 
charge of  the  duty  so  assigned  him,  he  visited 
Europe,  and  spent  much  of  the  year  1846  abroad. 
After  his  return,  be  was  chosen  president  of  the  Jef- 
ferson county  agricultural  society,  a  position  for 
which  his  close  attention  to  agricultural  science 
has  peculiarly  qualified  him,  and  the  duties  of  which 
he  has  discharged  with  marked  ability. 

In  1848,  his  friends  presented  his  name  to  the 
public  as  a  candidate  for  congress.  He  was  always, 
from  his  earliest  political  action,  strongly  attached 
to  the  principles  of  the  democratic  party;  and  like 
the  great  mass  of  that  party,  in  this  state,  found 
himself  unable  to  concur  in  the  recommendations 
of  the  Baltimore  convention.  The  county  of  Jef- 
ferson, forming  the  19th  congressional  district,  is  of 
doubtful  political  complexion,  having  been,  for  the 


408  CHARLES   P.    BRONSON. 

last  ten  years,  represented  more  than  one  half  of  the 
time  by  a  whig  member.  In  the  campaign  of  1848 
the  supporters  of  General  Cass  for  the  presidency 
drew  off  from  the  old  democratic  organization  in  the 
county  about  two  thousand  votes ;  and  yet,  with  this 
great  defection,  such  was  the  popularity  of  Mr.  Ives, 
that  he  came  within  less  than  three  hundred  votes 
of  defeating  his  whig  competitor. 

As  Mr.  Ives  is  still  in  the  prime  of  life,  being  only 
forty-two  years  of  age,  a  long  career  of  usefulness 
and  honor  is  undoubtedly  before  him. 


CHARLES  P.  BRONSON. 

LADY,  well  acquainted  with  the  circum- 
stances,  has  furnished  us  with  the  follow- 
ing interesting  sketch  of  this  distinguished 
gentleman,  whose  name,  as  the  originator  of 
a  new  system  of  elocution,  is  familiar  to  the 
learned,  not  only  in  this  country,  but  in  Europe. 

"  It  is  not  my  design  to  detain  the  reader  with  a  long  account  of  the 
first  buttons  that  were  made,  their  substance,  form  or  color.  I  will  re- 
late a  simple  story,  which  may  wound  the  pride  of  some,  who  have 
nothing  to  recommend  them  but  their  ancestors  and  worldly  wealth, 
and  which  may  animate  the  hearts  of  others,  who  have  nothing  to  de- 
pend on  but  their  own  efforts,  and  that  benificcnt  Being,  who  always 
helps  those  who  help  themselves.  The  hero  of  this  little  tale  first  opened 
his  eyes  upon  this  delightful  world,  in  a  beautiful  country  town,  in  the 
land  of  steady  habits,  with  a  silvery  lake  laving  the  base  of  the  hill  on 
which  it  is  situated.  His  father  was  a  merchant,  who  conducted  his 
business  with  great  prudence  and  economy,  being  satisfied  with  small 
and  certain  profits.  When  Charles  was  about  three  years  old,  a  destruc- 
tive flood  reduced  his  father  to  poverty;  but  being  of  that  class  of  men, 
who  are  not  easily  discouraged  by  apparent  misfortune,  he  purchased 
a  small  farm,  and  with  the  labor  of  his  hands  paid  for  it.  When  Charles 
was  about  tburteen  years  of  age,  the  father  thought  to  improve  his  out- 
ward fortune  by  exchanging  his  little  farm  for  a  much  larger  one,  in 
that  part  of  Ohio  then  called  New  Connecticut.  In  1816,  he  moved 
with  his  family  of  three  children  to  the  West;  which  was  at  that  time 
considered  nearly  out  of  the  world — Charles  travelled  the  whole  dis- 
tance, 700  miles,  on  foot,  driving  a  flock  of  sheep  and  nine  cows.     The 


CHARLES   P.    BRONSON.  409 

section  of  land  having  been  purchased  without  previous  examination, 
was  found  to  be  some  distance  from  any  house  or  road. 

Nothing  daunted,  however,  the  family  soon  raised  and  covered  a  log 
house,  and  the  father  and  son  commenced  clearing  the  land  for  cultiva- 
tion. The  reader  may  judge  of  the  lonely  situation  of  the  family,  when 
informed  that  Charles  olten  heard  his  mother  say,  "  it  is  now  several 
months  since  I  have  seen  the  face  of  a  woman."  After  three  years  spent 
in  chopping  with  his  own  hands,  thirty  or  forty  acres  of  very  heavy 
timbered  land,  and  assisting  in  clearing  off  seventy-five,  interspersed 
with  hunting,  aud  other  incidents  of  western  life,  young  Charles  began 
to  feel  an  insatiate  thirst  for  knowledge,  which  the  wilderness  could  not 
afford;  and  in  the  middle  of  December,  1819,  being  only  seventeen 
years  of  age,  he  bade  farewell  to  all  who  were  dear  to  him  on  earth, 
shouldered  his  knapsack,  and  started  for  New  England,  with  only  eight 
dollars  to  cany  him  eight  hundred  miles,  and  through  college.  He 
traveled  through  almost  unbroken  forests  for  three  days.  We  will  not, 
however,  detain  the  reader  with  a  description  of  his  long  and  dreary 
journey  over  mountains,  wading  rivers,  escapes  from  savage  beasts,  or 
savage  men.  In  February,  he  found  himself  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
from  his  destination,  (which  was  Green  Mountain  state,)  with  only  sixty- 
three  cents  in  his  pocket. 

He  was  now  in  the  western  part  of  Massachusetts.  Knowing  that 
this  sum  was  insufficient  to  defray  his  expenses  to  his  uncle's  in  Ver- 
mont, with  whom  he  expected  to  prepare  for  college,  he  felt  no  small 
degree  of  solicitude.  But  he  remembered  "the  widow's  cruise  of  oil, 
and  barrel  of  meal,"  mentioned  in  the  good  book.  He  also  thought  of 
the  anecdote  of  the  sailor  boy  when  he  became  dizzy  in  reefing  the 
sails,  "  look  aloft."  He  betook  himself  earnestly  to  prayer.  His  spirit 
was  tranquilized.  Light  seemed  poured  upon  his  path  in  floods,  and  he 
went  on  his  way  rejoicing,  being  fully  pursuaded  that  the  Lord  will  help 
them  that  help  themselves.  He  had  not  proceeded  far  in  his  day's  journey, 
before  he  overtook  a  young  man,  who  had  been  getting  a  pair  of  panta- 
loons cut,  but  by  some  means  had  forgotten  to  get  buttons.  Thought 
our  young  traveller,  "  now  is  the  time  to  replenish  my  purse."  He  cast 
his  eyes  upon  a  coat  of  three  years  service,  which  was  double  breasted, 
and  said  to  himself,  "  now  if  I  can  sell  him  these  buttons  for  twenty- 
five  cents,  that  sum,  with  what  I  have,  will  cany  me  through.  He  asked 
his  companion,  in  true  yankee  style — "  Well  sir,  what  will  you  give  me 
for  the  buttons  on  my  coat?"  On  examining  them,  the  young  man 
replied,  "a  quarter  of  a  dollar."  "  Agreed,"  said  Charles,  and  with  his 
jack  knife  he  cut  off  the  buttons,  and  handed  them  over. 

"Toward  night  our  young  adventurer  was  overtaken  by  a  peddler,  who 
kindly  invited  him  to  ride  in  his  sleigh.  He  accepted  the  invitation  with 
grateful  acknowledgement,  as  he  was  quite  lame  from  having  frozen  his 
feet  in  crossing  the  Alleghany  mountains.  Having  no  buttons  on  his 
coat,  he  was  obliged  to  hold  it  together  with  his  hands.  The  pedlar,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  inquired  all  about  Charles  and  his  business;  whence 
he  came  and  whither  he  was  going  ;  to  all  which  questions  satisfactory 
answers  were  given.  Observing  young  Charles's  position,  he  asked  what 
had  become  of  the  buttons  on  his  coat.  This  question  was  a  poser  to  the 
lad.  He  liked  not  to  talk  of  his  poverty,  and  he  plunged  again  into  a 
recital  of  the  incidents  of  western  life.  He  told  wolf  stories,  and  deer 
and  bear  stories;  and  ended  by  telling  of  killing  a  bear  with  an  axe,  with 
his  own  hand ;  which  actually  occurred  a  short  time  before  he  left  home. 
He,  with  some  young  companions,  had  wounded  a  bear,  and  followed  it 

52 


410  CHARLES    P.  BRONSON. 

the  greater  part  of  a  day.  Toward  night,  he  gave  his  rifle  to  one  of  his 
associates,  (all  of  whom  refused  to  follow  the  bear,)  and  taking  an  axe, 
plunged  into  a  thicket  where  they  expected  Bruin  might  be.  He  had  not 
penetrated  far  into  the  marsh,  when,  jumping  over  a  very  large  old  tree, 
the  bear  rose  to  receive  him,  with  one  of  those  affectionate  embraces, 
which  are  so  unwelcome  to  the  hunter.  There  seemed  to  be  but  a  step 
between  him  and  death.  He  voluntarily  threw  his  old  cap  before  the  in- 
furiated beast,  who  instantly  caught  it,  and  he  buried  the  axe  in  the 
animal's  skull! 

"But  this  thrilling  story  did  not  save  him;  the  agonizing  question  was 
again  put  by  the  peddler,  and  Charles  felt  obliged  to  tell  his  story.  It 
melted  the  heart  of  his  auditor.  Tears  trickled  down  his  weather  beaten 
face,  and  for  a  few  moments  both  Were  silent.  They  soon  came  to  the 
place  of  separation.  Charles  jumped  out  of  the  sleigh  and  thanked  the 
man  lor  his  kindness,  and  was  about  to  proceed  on  his  journey,  when  the 
peddler  called  to  him  to  stop,  and  take  something  he  held  out  to  him,  say- 
ing, "  Take  these,  and  get  the  woman  where  you  stop,  to  sew  some  on 
your  coat,  and  sell  the  rest."  The  present  was  a  large  gross  of  buttons. 
lie  arrived  at  the  end  of  his  journey  with  as  much  money  as  when  he 
met  the  peddler;  having  paid  his  expenses  in  buttons. 

"He  had  also  buttons  enough  for  himself,  and  several  others,  till  he  got 
through  college.  He  was  particular  to  inquire  the  name  of  his  benefac- 
tor. It  was  Oliver  Kellogg,  of  Lanesboro',  Massachusetts,  who,  if  alive, 
doubtless  remembers  the  circumstance.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the 
young  man's  good  fortune.  He  completed  his  college  course  and  entered 
on  a  long  career  of  usefulness.  He  is  now  probably  as  well  known  to 
the  American  public  as  any  man  of  his  age.  Thousands  have  listened, 
entranced,  at  his  lectures,  to  his  eloquence,  and  thousands  have  blessed 
God  that  he  was  ever  born — the  writer  of  this  being  one  of  the  happy 
number. 

"  It  appears  from  accounts  published  afterwards,  that  Prof.  Bronson 
met  his  early  friend  in  the  town  of  Lee,  Massachusetts ;  and  Mr.  Kellogg's 
generosity  having  led  him  into  bad  company,  he  became  a  drunkard,  but 
the  Washingtonians  raised  him  to  the  dignity  of  a  man  again.* 

Among  other  works,  Professor  Bronson  has  pub- 
lished a  large  octavo  volume  on  Elocution  or  Mental 
and  Vocal  Philosophy;  uniting  the  principles  of 
reading  and  speaking,  as  designed  for  the  develop- 
ment and  cultivation  of  both  body  and  mind,  in 
accordance  with  the  nature,  uses  and  destiny  of 
man,  illustrated  with  several  hundred  engravings. 
This  popular  work  has  reached  its  thirtieth  edition. 

*  In  the  summer  of  1S44,  wlieu  Mr.  Bronson  was  lecturing  al  Williams  College,  be  had  the 
pleasure  ofheading  a  subscription  to  procure  some  clothes  for  Mr.  Kellogg's  family,  thus  pay- 
ing for  the  buttons  four-fold. 


HOMER   BOSTWICK.  41 1 


HOMER  BOSTWICK, 

fOW  a  surgeon  of  distinction  in  New  York 
city,  was  born  on  the  25th  of  October,  1806, 
in  the  town  of  Edinburg,  Ohio.  His  first 
progenitors  in  the  United  States  were  John  and 
Arthur  Bostwick,  brothers,  who  arrived  here 
from  England,  and  who  settled  in  the  town  of  Strat- 
ford, Connecticut.  John  removed  from  Stratford  to 
New  Milford,  and  was  the  second  white  inhabitant 
who,  with  his  family,  made  that  village  a  place  of 
residence.  He  had  seven  sons.  His  third  son, 
Ebenezer,  was  the  father  of  five  sons.  The  fourth 
son  of  Ebenezer,  Edmund,  had  eleven  sons,  of  whom 
the  youngest,  Heman,  was  the  father  of  Homer,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  Heman  was  among  the  first 
who  went  into  the  western  country,  and  settled  in 
the  town  of  Edinburg.  But  he  did  not  long  sojourn 
in  his  new  abode.  Soon  after  the  birth  of  Heman, 
his  fourth  son,  he  returned  to  Hinesburg,  Vermont, 
where  he  still  resides.  He  is  by  trade  a  house  car- 
penter. He  has  been  unfortunate  in  consequence 
of  unavoidable  calamities,  such  as  the  burning  down 
of  his  house  three  times.  His  narrow  circumstances 
prevented  him  from  giving  his  son  other  than  a 
common  country-school  education. 

"  Dr.  Homer  Bostwick  manifested  at  a  very  early  age  a  decided  predi- 
lection for  anatomical  pursuits.  Whenever  there  happened  to  be  a  chicken 
killed,  this  juvenile  disciple  of  Esculapius,  if  the  feathered  biped  could 
be  laid  hands  upon,  would  hide  it  away  to  dissect  it  with  his  pen-knife. 
When  seven  years  old,  he  declared  his  intention  to  be  a  doctor.  He 
remained  with  his  father,  working  about  the  farm,  until  he  was  twelve. 
He  then  went  to  live  with  his  uncle,  Robert,  a  lawyer,  in  Vergennes! 
While  there  he  attended  school  for  two  years.  His  father  then  wished 
him  to  enter  a  cloth  manufactory,  and  acquire  the  trade.  Homer  went 
with  much  reluctance ;  but  after  the  lapse  of  a  year,  could  not  be  per- 
suaded to  remain  longer.  He  then  obtained  a  clerk's  place  in  a  country 
store,  but  soon  went  back  to  the  farm.  One  day,  while  engaged  in 
hoeing  potatoes  where  the  ground  was  very  hard,  he  suddenly  threw 
away  his  implement  of  labor,  exclaiming,  "  There,  Mr.  Hoe !  I've  done 
with  you  forever.     I'll  go  and  be  a  doctor."     The  next  night,  to  make 


412  HOMER   BOSTWICK. 

good  his  word,  he  set  out  for  the  town  of  Whitehall.  The  weather  was 
very  inclement.  His  father  did  all  in  his  power  to  prevent  him  from 
carrying  his  boyish  resolution  into  effect;  but  in  vain.  He  accompanied 
his  sou  several  miles  on  the  road,  at  times  weeping,  and  trying  to  per- 
suade him  to  return.  The  boy's  answer  to  his  remonstrances  was,  "  I 
am  sorry  to  grieve  you,  father ;  but  I  must  go  and  seek  my  fortune.  Pray, 
go  home,  and  let  me  go  my  own  way.  I'll  take  care  of  myself.  In  a  few 
years,  if  God  spares  my  life,  you  shall  hear  that  I  have  been  successful; 
and  I  will  then  come  home  and  see  you,  and  you  shall  share  with  me  all 
my  earnings.  So,  bid  me  good-bye,  and  let  us  part"  The  old  man  at 
last  bade  his  son  farewell,  and  turned  homeward.  The  youth,  with  a 
light,  though  sorrowful  heart,  traveled  stoutly  onward. 

He  was  at  that  period  about  sixteen  years  old.  Walking  all  night 
through  the  mire  and  mud,  he  reached  Vergennes  early  on  the  next 
morning.  His  funds  consisted  of  precisely  fifteen  cents ;  his  ward-robe 
of  one  shirt,  besides  the  garments  that  he  wore.  His  breakfast  he  owed 
to  a  hospitable  farmer.  After  this  one  meal  he  trudged  onward  till  night, 
wheu,  overpowered  with  fatigue,  he  asked  for  and  obtained  lodgings  at 
a  small  plank  house  by  the  way-side,  for  which,  with  his  supper,  he  was 
charged  in  the  morning  the  sum  of  three  shillings.  On  making  known, 
however,  that  his  whole  worldly  wealth  consisted  of  fifteen  cents,  he  was 
told  by  his  hostess  to  give  her  that,  and  be  off  for  a  vagabond.  He 
offered  his  single  shirt  in  addition,  but  that  was  refused.  When  he 
arrived  at  Whitehall,  he  was  very  hungry  and  weaiy — destitute  of 
money,  friends  or  recommendation.  Quite  at  a  loss  what  to  do,  he  ven- 
tured at  last  to  inquire  of  the  keeper  of  a  groceiy  store,  if  he  did  not  want 
a  boy.  After  telling  his  name  and  adventures,  he  succeeded  in  interest- 
ing the  grocer,  who  took  him  and  treated  him  kindly.  In  this  situation 
he  remained  long  enough  to  procure  for  himself  a  suit  of  clothes  and 
sufficient  money  to  take  him  down  to  Troy.  There  he  applied  for 
employment  to  Mr.  Pierce,  who  was  the  landlord  of  the  best  hotel  in  the 
place,  and  fortunately  with  success.  After  working  here  for  several 
months  at  small  wages,  he  was  told  by  a  companion  that  he  could  be 
much  better  paid  if  he  would  go  on  board  one  of  the  North  river  steam- 
boats. Accordingly  he  hired  as  a  hand  on  a  boat  commanded  by  Captain 
Cruttendeu;  but  not  liking  his  occupation,  he  left  it,  and  went  to  Hudson. 
While  there  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  dentist  by  the  name  of 
Parsons." 

"  One  day,  while  witnessing  operations  on  teeth,  he  inquired  of  Mr. 
Parsons  if  he  could  not  do  the  same;  adding  also,  that  he  had  long  been 
desirous  of  studying  medicine,  and  thought,  as  he  had  a  great  aptitude  for 
mechanics,  he  might  learn  to  be  a  good  dentist,  and  thus  enable  himself 
to  acquire  the  profession  of  a  doctor.  Mr.  Parsons  gave  him  some  in- 
struction and  sold  him  some  necessary  instruments;  and  the  next  we 
hear  of  our  adventurer  is  that  he  was  established  as  a  dentist  in  Court- 
land  street,  New  York,  where  he  continued  in  the  practice  of  dentistry, 
with  excellent  success,  until  May,  1830,  when  he  entered  the  office  of  Dr. 
Kearney  Rogers,  as  a  student  of  medicine,  being  obliged  at  the  same 
time  to  obtain  his  livelihood  by  the  operation  of  dental  surgery.  After 
remaining  there  for  a  year  and  a  half,  he  left.  Soon  afterwards  he  en- 
tered the  office  of  Dr.  Brownlee,  who  furnished  him  with  the  requisite 
certificate  of  his  having  entered  as  a  student  of  medicine,  on  the  23d 
December,  1832,  and  continued  there  until  the  1st  of  March,  1837:  and 
that  he  had  also  attended  a  full  course  of  lectures  at  the  New  York  col- 
lege of  physicians  and  surgeons. 


HOMER  BOSTWICK.  413 

"  After  receiving  his  dipoloma,  he  commenced  the  regular  practice 
of  medicine  in  the  city  of  New  York,  on  the  15th  day  of  April,  1837, 
where,  until  the  present  time,  his  efforts  have  been  attended  with  the 
most  brilliant  success.  The  little  fortune  he  had  accumulated  as  a  den- 
tist, was  unluckily  (or,  perhaps,  luckily,  as  the  event  has  proved,)  wasted 
in  uprofitable  speculations,  into  which  the  shrewdest  of  men  are  apt  to 
be  drawn ;  and  thus  he  found  himself,  when  on  the  threshold  of  his 
laboriously  acquired  profession,  as  utterly  without  pecuniary  means,  as 
when  he  left  his  father's  house,  and  breasted  the  tough  billows  of  life 
alone.  He  had,  moreover,  just  become  united  to  the  daughter  of  Henry 
M.  Western,  Esq.,  an  eminent  lawyer  at  the  New  York  bar.  He  was 
thus  supplied  with  a  double  motive  for  effort  and  exertion.  He  was 
moreover,  ambitious,  determined,  courageous.  Not  content  with  falling 
into  the  ordinary  routine  of  the  profession,  and  acquiring  a  competence 
by  slow  and  tedious  degrees,  he  resolved  to  strike  out  a  new  and  inde- 
pendent path.  Thus  was  he  induced  to  commence  in  Chambers  street, 
that  useful  and  excellent  dispensary,  now  situated  at  504  Broadway, 
which  has  become  so  well  and  so  favorably  known  as  the  New  York 
Medical  and  Surgical  Institute.  There  he  dispensed  advice  and  medi- 
cines to  the  poor  gratis,  and  thither  numerous  wealthy  patients  soon  re- 
sorted. After  taking  the  advice  of  several  friends  of  high  character,  he 
was  at  length  induced,  notwithstanding  the  implied  prohibition  of  the 
faculty,  for  the  laudable  purpose  of  making  the  benefits  of  his  dispensary 
widely  known,  to  advertise  its  establishment  and  existence  in  the  public 
papers.  This  he  did,  with  the  sanction  and  under  the  patronage  of  such 
men  as  the  Rev.  Dr.  Gardiner  Spring,  the  Rev.  Edward  Y.  Higbee,  the 
Rev.  Dr.  W.  C.  Brownlee,  the  Rev.  Dr.  George  Potts,  Dr.  E.  Spring,  and 
Dr.  David  L.  Rogers,  consulting  surgeons.* 

Like  several  other  physicians  and  surgeons  of  high  celebrity,  among 
whom  we  may  mention  the  gifted  Dr.  Ricord  of  Paris,  Dr.  Bostwick  has 
turned  his  attention,  in  a  great  measure,  towards  the  treatment  of  that 
certain  class  of  diseases, which  makes  many  patients  victims  of  quacks 
and  impostors.  Impressed  with  the  idea  of  the  vast  good  to  be  effected, 
and  the  mighty  relief  thereby  to  be  afforded  to  suffering  and  sinning 
humanity,  Dr.  Bostwick  has  profoundly  studied  the  subject,  and  evolved 
new  principles  and  facts  of  vital  importance. 

He  has  written  and  published  two  books,  the  one  a  popular  treatise, 
and  the  other  a  scientific  work,  which  have  already  elicited  the  warmest 
encomiums  from  laymen  and  medical  critics.  The  one  is  a  duodecimo 
volume,  treating  of  seminal  complaints,  their  causes  and  cure—  and  the 
other  an  elegant  quarto,  on  the  diseases  of  the  genito-urinary  organs, 
profusely  illustrated  with  magnificently  colored  plates,  and  entitled  to  a' 
prominent  place  in  the  library  of  every  physician.  Of  the  latter,  Dr.  J. 
V.  C.  Smith,  the  learned  editor  of  the  Boston  Medical  and  Surgical  Jour- 
naZ,  speaks  in  terms  of  just  and  cordial  commendation. 

As  a  man,  the  character  of  Dr.  Bostwick  is  ex- 
cellent. He  is  honorable,  honest,  and  high  princi- 
pled; kind  and  generous  to  the  poor;  a  member  of 

*  The  acquirements,  proficiency  and  great  skill  of  Dr.  Homer  Bostwick,  have  Ion"  been  ac 
knowledged,  both  by  numerous  patients  and  the  most  distinguished  members  of  the  medical 
profession.  In  conclusive  evidence  of  this  may  be  mentioned  the  recommendation  of  several 
of  the  most  celebrated,  long  established,  learned  and  able  physicians  and  surgeons  in  our 
city,  whose  names  were  voluntarily  and  freely  appended  to  a  card,  urging  the  appointment 
of  Dr.  Bostwick  as  physician  to  the  city  prison. 


414  E.  A.  KITTREDGE. 

the  Christian  'church,  and  a  friend  of  literature. 
He  is  rapidly  acquiring  a  fortune  by  his  profession, 
and  well  deserves  even  higher  success  than  he  has 
achieved. 

Doctor  Bostwick,  unlike  so  many  others,  while 
advancing  in  his  own  career,  has  ever  had  an  eye 
to  the  welfare  of  his  fellow  men ;  and  in  so  doing  he 
has  secured  his  own  happiness.  What  a  worm  at 
the  root  of  all  true  happiness  is  selfishness!  A  self- 
ish man,  like  the  dog  in  the  manger,  is  neither  hap- 
py himself,  nor  does  he  suffer  others  to  be.  While 
by  appropriating  every  thing  to  himself,  he  deprives 
all  around  him  of  the  sources  of  enjoyment,  and  his 
feverish  anxiety  to  possess  fills  his  own  heart  with 
wretchedness.  A  noble  soul  finds  pleasure  in  mak- 
ing others  happy ;  and  in  enriching  them  he  is  made 
rich  himself.  Selfishness  is  the  great  bane  to  hu- 
man happiness,  and  is  the  principal  thing  which 
the  Christian  religion  is  designed  to  destroy  from 
the  human  heart.     Man  should  live  for  man. 


E.  A.  KITTREDGE. 

The  gusli  of  cool  bright  waters, 

Soft  music  to  the  ear, 
The  laugh  of  beauty's  daughters 

And  childhood's  mingle  here; 
And  age  comes  looking  brighter — 

The  old  man  and  his  wire 
Walk  up  yon  hillock  lighter 

With  steps  of  earlier  lite. 

ifcR.  KITTREDGE  is  a  native  of  Salem, 
Massachusetts.  He  was  born  on  the  31st 
of  July,  1811.     His  father,  Benjamin  Kit- 

tredge,  was  one  of  eight  sons,  five  of  whom 

were  physicians  and  surgeons,  and  all  of  them 

of  considerable  celebrity. 


E.  A.  KITTREDGE.  415 

His  paternal  grandfather  was  Dr.  Jacob  Kittredge 
of  North  Brookfield,  Massachusetts,  a  man  as  much 
celebrated  in  his  day  as  any  in  the  land. 

His  maternal  grandfather  was  Jonathan  Pellet  of 
Woodstock,  Connecticut,  a  somewhat  distinguished 
agriculturist,  who  moved  to  Brookfield  before  the 
marriage  of  the  doctor's  mother.  She  was  a  re- 
markably handsome  woman,  and  married  at  the 
age  of  seventeen.  The  father  of  Dr.  Kittredge  died 
from  nervous  fevers  brought  on  by  excessive  labor 
in  his  profession,  at  the  age  of  forty-four.  His  wife 
survived  him  only  three  years. 

It  had  been  the  intention  of  the  deceased  to  give 
his  three  sons  a  liberal  education,  but  like  many 
other  talented  men,  being  very  careless  in  the  col- 
lection of  his  accounts,  except  for  immediate  wants, 
he  neglected  to  settle  with  his  patients  as  he  went 
along.  Owing  to  this,  thousands  of  dollars  were 
lost  to  the  family  by  the  outlawry  of  the  debts. 

At  the  death  of  his  father,  the  subject  of  this  no- 
tice was  only  eleven  years  of  age.  Soon  after  that 
event  he  went  to  reside  with  a  maternal  uncle,  Dr. 
Gurdon  Pellet,  at  North  Brookfield. 

After  remaining  with  his  uncle  three  years,  he 
returned  to  Salem,  where  he  shipped  on  board  the 
brig  Susan,  Captain  Stephen  Burchmore,  master, 
bound  for  Madagascar.  After  a  tedious  passage  of 
108  days,  he  arrived  at  that  port  much  exhausted. 
He  was  absent  on  this  cruise  about  fourteen  months, 
enduring  all  kinds  of  hardships.  On  his  return  to 
Salem,  he  discovered  that  he  was  just  fifty  dollars 
richer  than  when  he  started !  He  had  the  usual 
green  hand  wages,  viz:  six  dollars  a  month  and 
board — and  such  board ! 

Previous  to  his  voyage  he  spent  six  months  with 
a  Mr.  Stamford  of  Salem,  trying  to  learn  to  be  a 
cabinet  maker.  But  "  the  more  he  tried,  the  more 
he  couldn't  learn."  In  spite  of  all  his  labor,  he 
could  not  make  a  table  leg  of  the  simplest  kind. 


416  E.  A.  KITTREDGE. 

He  planed  it  and  squared  it,  and  squared  it  and 
planed  it,  until  the  leg  no  longer  existed,  for  he 
planed  it  all  away. 

He  next  turned  his  attention  to  the  tanning  and 
currying  business,  but  with  no  better  success.     In 
spite  of  all  his  master's  shewing,  he  could  not  for 
the  life  of  him,  after  the  hair  was  off,  distinguish 
the  flesh  side  of  a  hide  from  the  other.     Thus  fail- 
ing in  about  every  thing  he  undertook,  but  nothing 
daunted,  he,  at  the  age  of  nineteen  commenced  the 
study  of  medicine  with  his  uncle,  who  still  lives  at 
Paris  in  Maine ;  wisely  concluding  that  although  he 
might  not  be  able  to  make  a  table  leg,  he  perhaps 
could  in  time  learn  to  fix  the  broken  leg  of  a  patient. 
At  the  end  of  four  years,  he  graduated  with  honor 
at  Brunswick.     He  commenced  practice  at  West 
Brookfield,  four  miles  from  his  native  place,  where 
he  immediately  entered  upon  an  extensive  business. 
The  year  following,  at  the  solicitation  of  friends  in 
that  section,  he  removed  to  Washington,  Vermont. 
He  subsequently  removed  to  Dover,  and  finally  to 
Lynn,  Massachusetts,  where  he  has  resided  for  four- 
teen years.     In  Lynn  he  had  a  very  extensive  busi- 
ness until  1845.     He  then  became  dissatisfied  with 
the   drug  practice,  having  had  an  opportunity  to 
test  the  water  cure  treatment   on   a  child   of  his 
own,  in  a  case  of  the  measles,  and  whose  life  was 
thus' saved,  after  trying  in  vain  all  the  remedies  the 
pharmacopeia  could  boast.     After  this,  he  left  for 
Europe,  in  order  to  examine  into  the  hydropathic 
mode  of  treating  diseases.     In  the  spring  of  1846, 
he  returned  to  Lynn,  since  which  time  he  has  prac- 
ticed exclusively  on  the  water  cure  system,  and  with 
extraordinary  success. 

Dr.  Kittredge  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  married 
Miss  Susan,  daughter  of  Nicholas  and  Rebecca 
Smith.  He  has  frequently  said  that  it  was  owing 
chiefly  to  his  wife  that  he  became  a  hydropathist, 
for  which,  and  her  other  remarkably  good  qualities, 


SALATHIEL  ELLIS.  417 

he  feels  grateful.  They  have  had  six  children,  four 
of  whom  are  yet  living  in  robust  health,  owing  to 
their  daily  ablutions  in  cold  water,  in  the  doctors' 
opinion,  the  greatest,  and  the  only  needed  medicine 
in  the  world. 


SALATHIEL  ELLIS. 

AN  there  be  more  genuine  satisfaction 
than  to  be  instrumental  in  introducing 
modest  merit  to  the  public?  for  al- 
though it  has  been  well  said,  that  in 
this  world  talent  will  always  make  its 
way,  yet  it  sometimes  takes  so  long,  that  talent 
grows  weary  of  waiting,  and  gives  up  the 
world  in  despair. 
Mr.  Ellis  is  a  native  of  Springfield,  and  when 
a  child  his  father  removed  to  St.  Lawrence  county, 
New  York.  Salathiel  worked  upon  the  farm  until 
he  was  about  fourteen  years  of  age,  during  which 
time,  however,  his  leisure  hours  were  spent  in  orna- 
menting the  sides  of  the  house,  or  in  carving  figures 
with  a  jack  knife  upon  the  trees.  He  begged  his 
father  to  permit  him  to  be  a  painter,  but  the  old 
gentleman  thought  this  idea  a  visionary  one.  The 
youth  was  subsequently  apprenticed  to  a  Mr.  Web- 
ster, a  shoemake.  At  the  expiration  of  two  years, 
a  traveling  miniature  painter,  examining  the  rough 
drawings  of  young  Ellis,  offered  to  take  him  with 
him  and  teach  him  to  paint.  To  this,  however, 
Webster  would  not  agree,  as  his  apprentice  was 
earning  him  nearly  two  dollars  per  day.  At  the 
expiration  of  his  term,  not  having  any  opportunities 
of  learning  at  the  shop,  he  returned  to  his  father 
and  entered  the  academy  at  Potsdam,  where  he 
53 


419  SALATHIEL   ELLIS. 

became  acquainted  with  It.  H.  Gillet,  Esq.,  solicitor 
of  the  United  States  treasury. 

At  the  age  of  twenty- one  he  married,  and  soon 
afterwards  entered  into  partnership  with  a  chair- 
maker  ;  his  part  of  the  business  being  to  paint  and 
ornament  the  chairs. 

About  this  time  Mr.  Gillet  being  brigade  inspector, 
gave  Mr.  Ellis  the  colors  to   paint  for  a  company 
which  had  obtained  them  as  a   premium.     They 
were  much  admired,  which  much  elevated  our  art- 
ist.    After  spending   some  time  at  the  business  of 
carriage  and  house  painting,  he  concluded  to  devote 
his  whole  energy  to  portrait  painting.     This  was  in 
1834,  at  which  time  he  had  a  wife  and  three  child- 
ren  to  support.     The  year  following,  he  went  to 
New  York  city  and  studied  with  Mr.  Page,  the  art- 
ist, during  the  winter.     In  1839,  having  two  addi- 
tional children,  and  but  little  improved  in  his  pro- 
fession,   he  removed  to    Ogdensbnrgh,  New  York, 
where  he  remained  for  a  considerable  period  with 
various  success ;  many  times  beset  with  difficulties, 
but  always  battling  them  with  a  persevering  spirit. 
At  length,  by  the  advice  of  his  friends,  he  in  1842, 
made  New  York  city    his    permanent   residence, 
where,  as  a  cameo  cutter,  &c,    he  is  universally 
admired.     He  is  justly  celebrated  for  the  finish  of  his 
work,  and  the  faithfulness  of  his  portraitures.     His 
medalion  portraits  in  plaster  are  pronounced  by  com- 
petent judges  to   be  equal  to  the  first  examples  of 
antique  art.     Among  the  finest  are  those  of  Alston 
and  Gilbert  Stewart,  which  were  modeled  for  the 
American   Art  Union;   of  Page,  the  artist,  Henry 
Clay  and  General  Taylor.     Among  the  busts   mo- 
deled by  Mr.  Ellis,  is  a  superb  one  and  the  only  one 
of  the  late  Silas  Wright.     We  rejoice  that  he  is  at 
last  beginning  to  be  properly  appreciated. 


MOSES    B.    SMITH.  419 


MOSES  B.  SMITH. 


iSjPlirE!  was  born  at  Pittstown,  New  York  state, 


c 


V- 


on  the  4th  of  August,  1790,  from  which 
_  place,  during  his  infancy,  his  parents  re- 
■>\3  moved  to  Burlington,  Otsego  county.  They 
^Y^  were  among  the  first  settlers  of  that  rough 
and  cold  region,  having  little  or  nothing  to  be- 
gin with,  and  like  many  other  pioneers  of  the  wil- 
derness, had  to  pay  for  their  land  by  their  own 
industry.  They  raised  a  family  of  nine  children, 
and  did  all  in  their  power  to  make  them  wise  and 
happy. 

Moses  had  the  privilege  of  attending  a  common 
school  during  a  few  months  in  the  year,  the  remain- 
der of  the  time  being  devoted  to  the  farm.  He 
afterwards,  during  the  winter  months,  taught  school 
himself.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  commenced  the 
study  of  medicine,  and  two  years  afterwards  was 
married.  He  received  his  diploma  in  181.3,  and 
commenced  practice  at  Homer,  Cortland  county, 
New  York.  In  the  spring  of  1815,  he  settled  in 
Chautauque,  where  he  contracted  for  a  piece  of 
land  and  built  a  house.  Here  in  a  thinly  inhabited 
wilderness  country,  he  had  an  extensive  practice. 
In  1818  he  removed  to  Burlington,  his  native  place, 
where  he  followed  his  profession  for  about  twenty 
years,  and  where  he  held  several  town  offices. 

Having  from  his  youth,  been  of  a  religious  turn 
of  mind,  he  was  much  in  the  habit  of  studying  the 
scriptures  and  of  reading  every  religious  book  which 
came  in  his  way.  He  perused  most  of  the  deistical 
works  extant,  but  never  lost  his  confidence  in  the 
Bible;  and  finally  embraced  the  doctrine  of  the 
ultimate  salvation  of  our  entire  race.  He  then 
commenced  preaching,  and  becoming  entirely  ab- 
sorbed in  the  doctrines  of  the  ministry,  he  sold  all 


420  EPHRAIM    MARSTON. 

his  property  and  resigned  his  offices,  resolving  to 
devote  his  whole  life  to  the  promulgation  of  his 
views  of  the  gospel;  his  only  regret  being  that  his 
early  advantages  of  education  did  not  fit  him  for  a 
wider  sphere  of  action.  He  was  ordained  at  Bur- 
lington in  1837.  Since  that  period,  he  has  preached 
at  numerous  places,  and  is  now  engaged  at  Fair- 
port,  Ontario  county. 

Mr.  Smith  is  now  in  his  59th  year,  and  is  blessed 
with  fine  health  and  a  robust  constitution. 


EPHRAIM  MARSTON. 

^PHRAIM  Marston,  was  born  at  Falmouth, 
Maine,  on  the  30th  of  July,  1807.  His 
paternal  grandparent  Ephraim,  was  a  farm- 
er of  much  worth  and  respectability ;  and 
perhaps  the  best  idea  which  can  be  given  of 
him,  is  to  quote  the  language  of  one  Avell  ac- 
quainted with  him,  who  describes  him  as  "  a  man 
who  was  never  known  to  have  an  enemy."  His 
wife  Anna  was  a  woman  of  a  very  amiable  disposi- 
tion. 

The  father  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  also 
a  farmer,  and  much  esteemed  by  all  who  had  the 
pleasure  of  his  acquaintance.  He  married  Betsy 
Worm  well,  of  Falmouth.  By  this  marriage  there 
were  three  children,  one  daughter  and  two  sons. 

Doctor  Marston,  the  youngest,  was  at  the  age  of 
seven  years  deprived  of  his  mother.  She  died  on 
the  6th  of  September,  1814,  aged  thirty-six  years. 
His  father  subsequently  married  Phebe  Waymouth, 
whose  constant  kindness  fortunately  supplied  the 
place  made  desolate  by  the  dear  departed.  His 
father  died  on  the  27th  of  January,  1846,  in  his 


EPHRAIM    MARSTON.  421 

seventy-ninth  year.  He  was  a  sterling  patriot,  and 
his  loss  was  much  lamented  among  his  large  circle 
of  friends.     His  memory  will  long  be  cherished. 

Doctor  Marston  is  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word, 
a  self-made  man,  and  one  who  has  risen  chiefly  by 
his  own  unaided  exertions.  Having  taught  school 
to  defray  the  expenses  of  his  tuition,  he  obtained 
his  medical  degree  at  Bowdoin  college  in  1833. 
On  the  26th  of  December  of  the  same  year,  he 
married  Miss  Olivia  M.  Waymouth.  Commencing 
practice  in  his  native  place,  he  remained  there 
until  the  death  of  his  wife.  She  died  in  1838,  in 
the  thirty-first  year  of  her  age,  leaving  two  children. 

In  the  autumn  of  1839,  Doctor  Marston  removed 
to  Boston,  Massachusetts.  Although  a  comparative 
stranger,  he  met  with  such  encouragement  as  would 
be  flattering  to  the  oldest  and  most  skillful  phy- 
sicians. 

On  the  15th  of  April,  1841,  he  married  Miss  Har- 
riet A.  W.  Philbrick,  a  young  lady  of  highly  respect- 
able connexions,  and  possessing  a  sound  and  culti- 
vated mind. 

Although  Doctor  Marston,  like  other  benevolent 
men,  has  sustained  heavy  losses  in  accomodating 
others,  he  has  nobly  stemmed  the  tide  of  adversity; 
and  in  showing  kindness  to  his  fellow  man,  has 
himself  prospered.  He  is  a  skillful  physician  of 
very  extensive  practice,  and  has,  it  is  believed,  few 
equals.  In  his  character  there  are  many  amiable 
traits.  His  exertions  in  the  cause  of  temperance 
and  in  restoring  fallen  man  from  want  and  misery 
to  happiness  and  plenty,  can  not  fail  to  ensure  their 
reward.  And  what  is  more,  his  principles  of  piety 
are  carried  into  practice ;  for  with  him  true  religion 
consists  in  visiting  the  widow  and  the  fatherless, 
and  pouring  the  balm  of  consolation  into  the  hearts 
of  the  woful  and  the  weary.  May  such  men  be 
multiplied  in  the  land. 


422  E.    C.    O  NEIL. 


E.  C.  O'NEIL, 

NATIVE  of  Ulster  County,  New  York, 
was  born  on  the  12th  of  September, 
1S22.  His  father,  James  O'Neil,  em- 
igrated to  this  country  when  very 
young,  and  was  among  the  first  set- 
tlers of  Ulster.  The  maiden  name  of 
the  mother  of  the  doctor,  was  Temperance 
Conklin,  a  member  of  a  very  old  and  worthy 
family  of  that  name  in  Dutchess  county. 
She  died  when  he  was  in  six  years  of  age.  The 
occupation  of  his  father  was  that  of  a  farmer,  in 
which  he  took  great  delight,  and  in  which  he  con- 
tinued until  his  death,  in  January,  1849,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-two.  Being  anxious  that  his  sons  should 
also  become  farmers,  the  subject  of  our  sketch, 
with  his  three  brothers,  remained  at  home  until  he 
had  completed  his  twentieth  year.  During  this 
period  he  attended  several  winters  at  the  Kingston 
academy,  his  duties  in  superintending  the  farm, 
occupying  the  residue  of  his  time.  Having  a  strong 
inclination  for  books,  he  now  resolved  to  study  a 
profession,  and  selected  that  of  medicine.  He 
studied  in  the  office  of  O.  M.  Allaben,  of  Delaware 
county,  where  he  soon  became  proud  of  the  choice 
he  had  made.  During  the  three  and  a  half  years 
he  studied  under  Dr.  Allaben,  he  attended  three 
full  courses  of  lectures  at  the  University  medical 
college,  in  New  York  city,  where  he  took  his 
degree  of  M.  D.  in  the  spring  of  1845.  He  then 
entered  a  hall  of  pharmacy  in  the  city,  for  the 
purpose  of  gaining  a  more  thorough  knowledge  of 
that  branch  of  the  profession.  He  remained  there 
nine  months  and  made  a  great  addition  to  his  stock 
of  knowledge.  He  shortly  afterwards  received  the 
appointment  of  assistant  in  the  Bellevue  hospital, 


e.  c.  o'neil.  423 

one  of  the  largest  in  the  city.  Before  the  expira- 
tion of  his  term,  the  ordinance  of  the  common 
council,  relative  to  the  appointment  of  visiting 
surgeons  and  physicians,  being  changed,  it  was  his 
good  fortune  to  be  placed  in  the  surgical  depart- 
ment, where  he  had  the  benefit  of  the  valuable 
advice  of  Professor  Willard  Parker.  At  the  expira- 
tion of  the  year,  Dr.  O'Neil  accepted  the  post  of 
assistant  physician,  at  the  lunatic  asylum  on  Black- 
well  island.  On  this  occasion  he  received  a  very 
flatering  recomendation  to  the  common  council, 
from  the  medical  board  of  the  asylum.  His  am- 
bition was  now  to  gain  a  knowledge  of  the 
diseases  of  the  nervous  system,  a  class  of  disease 
so  little  understood  by  physicians  in  general.  He 
was  there  associated  with  Dr.  McDonald,  who  in 
the  treatment  of  insanity,  deservedly  stands  at  the 
head  of  the  profession.  His  private  establishment 
for  the  insane,  on  Long  Island,  is  very  celebrated. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  present  year,  Dr.  O'Neil, 
with  the  brightest  prospects  before  him,  resigned 
his  situation  at  the  asylum ;  but  shortly  afterwards 
his  health  failing,  he  was  strongly  advised  by  his 
medical  friends,  to  take  a  country  practice.  He 
has  accordingly  selected  the  beautiful  village  of 
Flushing,  Long  Island,  where  should  he  be  spared, 
his  success  can  not  be  a  matter  of  doubt. 

We  conclude  this  article  with  the  following 
extract  from  the  New  York  Sun. 

"  A  very  interesting  affair  transpired  on  Black- 
well  island,  a  few  evenings  since.  The  assistant 
physician  of  the  lunatic  asylum,  Dr.  E.  C.  O'Neil, 
having  resigned  his  situation,  the  officers  of  the 
different  institutions  on  the  island,  held  a  meeting 
to  express  the  respect  they  entertained  for  the 
talents  of  Dr.  O'Neil,  and  their  estimation  of  his 
character  as  a  gentleman.  Mr.  T.  J.  Marshall 
acted  as  chairman.  Mr.  W.  B.  Mott,  on  behalf 
of  the  meeting,  then  presented  a  very  beautiful  and 


424  JOSEPH    BAKER. 

valuable  silver  box  to  Dr.  O'Neil,  with  a  few- 
brief  and  appropriate  remarks.  The  doctor,  in 
receiving  the  gift,  responded  in  a  very  happy 
manner.  The  inscription  on  the  box  is,  'Pre- 
sented by  the  officers  of  the  Lunatic  asylum,  B.  I., 
to  Dr.  E.  C.  O'Neil,  as  a  token  of  respect  and 
esteem,  January,  1849.'  Personal  acquaintance 
with  the  doctor,  satisfies  us  that  the  box  could  not 
have  been  given  into  better  hands." 


JOSEPH  BAKER. 

ONCORD,  New  Hampshire,   is  the  native 
place  of  this  gentleman.     He  was  born  on 
the  13th  of  June,  1806.     He  is  a  descen- 
dent  of  those  who  left  the  land  of  persecu- 
tion. 

When  first  the  lonely  Mayflower  threw 

Her  canvas  to  the  breeze, 
To  bear  afar  her  pilgrim  crew 

Beyond  the  dark  blue  seas. 

In  early  childhood  his  father  removed  to  Shipton, 
Lower  Canada,  where  he  remained  until  his  son 
was  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

Joseph  from  his  earliest  days  had  a  strong  taste 
for  books  and  study,  which,  however,  in  that  country 
he  found  very  difficult  to  gratify.  But  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  circulating  library,  of  which  his  father 
was  a  member,  aided  him  very  much.  Still,  the 
means  of  education,  and  good  teachers,  were  not  to 
be  obtained ;  and  these  disadvantages  the  youth  had 
to  overcome  by  an  unwavering  perseverance. 

On  arriving  at  manhood,  he  returned  to  the  coun- 
try of  his  birth,  and  then  went  to  Massachusetts, 
where  he  remained  two  years.  It  was  while  there 
he  embraced  the  doctrine  of  universal  salvation. 


JOSEPH   BAKER.  425 

Losing  his  health,  and  after  an  absence  of  three 
years,  he  returned  to  the  paternal  roof,  where  he 
found  a  cordial  welcome,  and  when  he  succeeded 
in  bringing  over  the  family  to  his  religious  views. 

Mr.  Baker  prepared  himself  for  the  ministry  under 
the  patronage  and  instruction  of  the  Rev.  J.  Ward. 
To  this  holy  office  he  had  long  felt  an  ardent  wish, 
which  being  gratified,  he  commenced  preaching  in 
1832,  and  received  an  ordination  from  the  Northern 
association  October  3,  1833.  He  then  spent  three 
years  in  preaching  in  Canada  and  the  northern  part 
of  the  United  States.  During  this  period,  his  early 
habits  of  self  culture  and  self  reliance  were  of  great 
benefit  to  him.  It  has  been  said  that  he  who  spends 
years  in  a  seminary  under  able  teachers,  may  be  the 
finished  scholar,  the  erudite  critic,  and  the  profound 
theologian,  but  he  will  never  feel  the  energy,  confi- 
dence of  the  self-made  man. 

On  the  12th  of  May,  1836,  Mr.  Baker  married  Miss 
Abzina  Ward,  the  daughter  of  his  patron,  the  Rev. 
J.  Ward.     In  her  he  has  found  a  faithful  wife. 

Soon  after  his  marriage,  dissatisfied  with  the 
colonial  government  of  Canada,  and  foreseeing  the 
troubles  which  soon  arose,  he  joyfully  returned  to 
the  land  of  his  birth,  where  he  labored  as  a  preacher 
in  the  northwestern  portion  of  Vermont  until  Sep- 
tember, 1845.  He  thence  removed  to  Madrid,  St. 
Lawrence  county,  and  in  1848  to  Glen's  Falls, 
Warren  county,  New  York,  the  present  field  of  his 
labors. 

In  1841  and  1842,  Mr.  Baker  was  a  representative 
of  the  town  of  Cambridge,  in  the  legislature  of  Ver- 
mont. 

His  life  has  been  one  of  much  trial' and  suffering, 
but  he  never  gave  way  to  despondency. 

And  thou,  too,  whosoe'r  thou  art, 
That  readest  this  brief  psalm, 
As  one  by  one  thy  hopes  depart, 
Be  resolute  and  calm. 

Longfellow. 
54 


426  JOHN   JENKINS  AUSTIN. 


JOHN  JENKINS  AUSTIN, 

sORN  on  the  22d  of  November,  1819,  is  the 
son  of  Orramael  Austin,  a  blacksmith.  His 
mother  is  a  sister  of  Dr.  W.  D.  Purple,  a 
physician  of  eminence  now  residing  at 
Greece. 
John  remained  at  home  until  his  18th  year, 
attending  school  a  portion  of  the  winter,  and  assist- 
ing his  father  in  the  shop  the  remainder  of  the  year. 

In  his  19th  year  he  entered  a  leather  factory  in 
Broome  county,  Maine,  being  wholly  dependent  on 
his  exertions  for  a  support. 

At  twenty-one,  having  saved  sufficient  money, 
he  entered  Union  academy  in  Maine,  where  he 
commenced  the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek  under 
Professor  Gates,  then  principal  of  the  institution. 
Having  taught  school  during  the  ensuing  winter, 
he  continued  his  studies  in  the  Oxford  academy, 
Chenango  county,  New  York.  His  money  being 
now  all  gone,  he  was  compelled  again  to  teach 
school  on  the  following  winter  for  the  purpose  of 
paying  his  way. 

In  May,  1843,  being  in  his  twenty-fourth  year, 
he  entered  upon  the  study  of  theology  (continuing 
his  original  and  scientific  pursuits  at  the  same 
time,)  under  the  care  of  the  Rev.  L.  Goodrich,  a 
very  excellent  man. 

During  the  next  year  he  traveled  as  a  lecturer  on 
temperance  and  phrenology. 

In  January  of  the  following  year,  he  accepted  an 
invitation  to  settle  as  pastor  over  the  Universalist 
society  in  Lebanon,  Madison  county,  New  York. 

On  the  4th  of  July,  the  same  year,  he  married 
Miss  Fanny  M.  Johnson,  of  Triangle,  Broome  county, 
a  highly  accomplished  young  lady,  and  much  es- 
teemed by  a  large  circle  of  acquaintances. 


GEORGE   M.    DEXTER.  427 

He  sustained  the  pastorship  at  Lebanon  nearly 
three  years  in  the  warm  embrace  of  affectionate 
friends.  In  1846  he  resigned  and  accepted  a  unani- 
mous invitation  to  settle  as  pastor  in  Newark,  Wayne 
county,  New  York. 

Mr.  Austin  has  contributed  largely  to  several 
leading  periodicals.  In  1848,  he  published  Offerings 
on  Religion,  addressed  to  the  Church  Universal, 
which  was  warmly  received  by  that  denomination, 
and  extensively  and  favorably  noticed  by  secular 
and  religious  papers  in  many  states  of  the  Union. 

As  a  preacher  Mr.  Austin  ranks  high.  He  is  of 
medium  height  and  of  a  ruddy  complexion. 


GEORGE  M.  DEXTER. 

rT  has  been  truly  observed,  that  much  less 
of  success  in  life  is  in  reality  dependent  upon 
accident,  or  what  is  called  luck,  than  is  gene- 
rally supposed.  For  more  depends  upon  the 
objects  which  a  man  proposes  to  himself;  what 
attainments  he  aspires  to;  what  is  the  circle 
which  bounds  his  visions  and  thoughts ;  what  he 
chooses,  not  to  be  educated  for,  but  to  educate  himself 
for;  whether  he  looks  to  the  end  and  aim  of  the 
whole  of  life,  or  only  to  the  present  day  or  hour; 
whether  he  listens  to  the  voice  of  indolence  or  vul- 
gar pleasure,  or  to  the  stirring  voice  in  his  own 
soul,  urging  his  ambition  on  to  laudable  objects. 

A  pleasing  illustration  of  the  latter  is  afforded  by 
the  life  of  the  subject  of  this  memoir. 

Mr.  Dexter  is  the  son  of  Aaron  Dexter,  a  highly 
respectable  physician.  After  the  usual  preparatory 
studies,  he  entered  Harvard  college,  but  left  while 
in  his  junior  year.  The  ensuing  four  years  he  spent 
as  clerk  in  a  mercantile  house,  where  his  untiring 


428  DENNIS    CHAPIN. 

industry  and  strict  integrity  won  for  him  the  respect 
of  all  with  whom  he  was  connected.  He  then  com- 
menced business  for  himself,  but  his  health  failing, 
he  went  abroad  for  the  purpose  of  recruiting  it. 
Returning  in  the  course  of  a  year,  he  determined 
upon  becoming  a  civil  engineer,  and  with  his  well- 
known  decision,  he  at  once  entered  the  office  of  the 
late  Mr.  Baldwin  who  was  engaged  in  the  construc- 
tion of  the  dry  docks  at  Charleston  and  Norfolk. 
In  the  course  of  the  three  years  he  remained  with 
Mr.  Baldwin,  he  became  perfectly  master  of  his 
profession.  He  was  then  engaged  as  assistant  en- 
gineer on  the  Lowell  rail  road,  and  on  the  opening 
of  the  road,  so  highly  were  his  services  appreciated, 
that  he  was  appointed  superintendent.  This  situa- 
tion he  subsequently  resigned  in  order  to  superin- 
tend the  erection  of  a  large  number  of  houses  and 
other  buildings.  To  this  business,  in  connection 
with  that  of  a  civil  engineer,  he  has  devoted  his 
attention  for  the  last  fourteen  years,  and  with  what 
success  it  is  needless  to  state.  There  have  been  no 
striking  incidents  in  his  life,  but  we  have  selected 
him  as  an  instance  of  what  can  be  accomplished  by 
a  steady  determined  will. 


DENNIS  CHAPIN. 

EYDEN,  Franklin  county,  Massachusetts, 
was  the  birth  place  of  this  individual.  He 
'was  born  on  the  10th  of  June,  1809.  His 
paternal  ancestor  in  this  country,  was  deacon 
Samuel  Chapin,  who  came  from  England  and 
settled  at  Springfield,  Massachusetts,  in  1642. 
His  wife  belonged  to  an  old  family  who  settled  at 
an  early  period  at  Grafton,  Worcester  county,  Mas- 
sachusetts.    The  father  of  Dennis  was  Elisha  Cha- 


DENNIS  CHAPIN.  429 

pin.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Legislature  of  Mas- 
sachusetts at  the  revision  of  its  constitution ;  and 
held  a  seat  in  the  council  of  the  state  until  nearly 
the  close  of  his  useful  life,  which  occurred  in  1835. 

The  first  ten  years  of  the  life  of  the  subject  of  our 
notice,  were  years  of  physical  suffering  and  much 
weakness;  so  much  so,  that  at  the  close  of  that 
period,  he  was  of  exceedingly  small  stature. 

In  the  summer  season  his  father  frequently  carried 
him  in  his  arms  from  the  school  house  to  the  plow, 
and  from  the  plow  to  the  school  house,  as  he  desired 
his  services  to  guide  the  horse  between  the  rows  of 
Indian  corn.  At  this  time  he  was  so  weak  that  he 
obtained  permission  of  his  teacher  to  study,  lying 
on  his  back  upon  the  floor,  not  being  able  to  sit  up 
during  the  whole  of  the  school  hours.  Fortunately 
during  the  next  five  years  of  his  life,  his  physical 
nature  underwent  a  rapid  and  vigorous  change. 
From  the  age  of  fifteen  to  twenty-four,  he  labored 
more  or  less  upon  the  farm.  While  thus  engaged 
it  was,  that  his  devotional  feelings  were  aroused,  and 
he  loved  to  contemplate  the  beauty,  grandeur  and 
sublimity  of  nature.  Thus  absorbed  in  the  most 
profound  adoration,  he  would  pray  in  the  most  fer- 
vent manner.  The  workmen  among  whom  he 
labored,  seeing  him  thus  frequently  lost  in  thought, 
would  often  remark  to  his  father,  "  This  is  no  place 
for  him ;  you  ought  to  send  him  to  school."  The 
only  effect  this  had  was  a  threat  from  the  father  to 
punish  Dennis,  if  he  did  not  attend  better  to  his 
work. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  commenced  educating 
himself.  He  subsequently  passed  an  academical 
course  at  Northfield,  Massachusetts,  a  small  village 
on  the  east  bank  of  the  Connecticut  river.  He  af- 
terwards entered  Amherst  college,  Massachusetts, 
where  he  graduated  after  the  usual  term. 

During  his  collegiate  life,  his  mind  became  tho- 
roughly impressed  with  religious  things.     This  de- 


430  ELIZABETH  BLACKWELL. 

cided  his  future  course  of  action,  and  on  leaving 
college,  after  a  short  season  spent  in  teaching  school, 
he  commenced  the  study  of  divinity.  He  was 
ordained  at  Wallingford,  Vermont,  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1841.  Since  that  time  he  has  been  engaged 
in  preaching  in  western  Vermont,  and  on  the  bor- 
ders of  New  York. 


ELIZABETH  BLACKWELL,  M.  D. 

REGULAR  physician,  a  professional  lady, 
who  has  recently  received  a  diploma, 
and  who  is  the  first  medical  doctor 
of  her  sex  in  the  United  States,  is  a  native 
2j^  of  Bristol,  England,  where  she  was  born 
in  1820.  Her  father  settled  with  his  family 
in  New  York  when  she  was  about  eleven  years 
old.  After  a  residence  there  of  five  or  six  years, 
he  failed  in  business,  and  removed  to  Cincin- 
nati. A  few  weeks  after  his  arrival  there,  he 
died,  leaving  his  widow  and  nine  children  in  very 
embarrassed  circumstances.  Elizabeth,  the  third 
daughter,  was  then  seventeen  years  of  age,  and  as- 
sisted two  of  her  sisters  in  teaching  a  young  lady's 
seminary.  By  the  joint  efforts  of  the  elder  children, 
the  younger  members  of  the  family  were  supported 
and  educated,  and  a  comfortable  homestead  on 
Walnut  hill  was  secured  for  the  family.  The  pro- 
perty which,  in  the  midst  of  their  first  difficulties, 
they  had  the  forecast  to  purchase,  has  already 
quadrupled  the  price  which  it  cost  them. 

The  enterprise  of  these  young  ladies  is  still 
further  indicated,  by  the  next  steps  which  they 
severally  took.  Anna,  the  eldest,  some  years  ago 
took  up  her  residence  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
where  she  has,  until  lately,  worked  at  the  trade  of 


ELIZABETH   BLACKWELL.  431 

periodical  authorship,  French  translation,  and  com- 
poser of  music.  She  is  now  in  England,  under  an 
engagement  with  a  publisher  there,  to  translate  the 
whole  of  Fourier's  works.  She  was  selected  for 
this  task  for  her  very  high  ability  in  French  transla- 
tion, and  the  excellence  of  her  English  style.  An- 
other sister,  Emily,  is  teaching  a  boy's  school  in 
Cincinnati,  preparing  them  for  college  in  the  de- 
partments of  mathematics  and  the  classical  lan- 
guages. And  Elizabeth,  after  two  or  three  years 
hard  labor  and  study  in  North  and  South  Carolina, 
and  two  years  more,  exclusively  devoted  to  the 
study  of  medicine,  in  Philadelphia  and  Geneva, 
has  her  medical  diploma  in  her  pocket. 

About  five  years  ago  she  first  entertained  the 
idea  of  devoting  herself  to  the  study  of  medicine. 
Having  taken  the  resolution,  she  went  vigorously 
to  work  to  effect  it.  She  commenced  the  study  of 
Greek,  and  persevered  until  she  could  read  it  satis- 
factorily, and  revived  her  Latin  by  devoting  three 
or  four  hours  a  day  to  it,  until  she  had  both  suffi- 
ciently for  all  ordinary  and  professional  purposes. 
French  she  had  taught,  and  studied  German  to 
gratify  her  fondness  for  its  modern  literature.  The 
former  she  speaks  with  fluency,  and  translates  the 
latter  elegantly,  and  can  manage  to  read  Italian 
prose  pretty  well. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1845,  for  the  purpose  of 
making  the  most  money  in  the  shortest  time,  she 
set  out  for  North  Carolina,  and,  after  some  months 
teaching  French  and  music,  and  reading  medicine 
with  Dr.  John  Dickson,  at  Asheville,  she  removed 
to  Charleston.  Here  she  taught  music  alone,  and 
read  industriously  under  the  direction  of  Dr.  Samuel 
H.  Dickson,  then  a  resident  of  Charleston,  and  now 
professor  of  practice,  in  the  university  of  New  York. 

Two  years  ago  she  came  to  Philadelphia,  for  the 
purpose  of  pursuing  the  study.  That  summer,  Dr. 
J.  M.  Allen,  professor  of  anatomy,  afforded  her  ex- 


432  ELIZABETH   BLACKWELL. 

cellent  opportunities  for  dissection,  in  his  private 
anatomical  rooms.  The  winter  following  she  at- 
tended her  first  full  course  of  lectures  at  Geneva. 
The  next  summer  she  resided  at  the  Blockley  hos- 
pital, Philadelphia,  where  she  had  the  kindest  at- 
tentions from  Doctor  Benedict,  the  principal  phy- 
sician, and  the  very  large  range  for  observation 
which  its  great  variety  and  number  of  cases  afford. 
Last  winter  she  attended  her  second  course  at 
Geneva,  and  graduated  regularly  at  the  close  of  the 
session.  On  receiving  her  diploma  she  addressed 
the  reverend  president  in  these  words:  "I  thank 
you,  sir.  With  the  help  of  the  Most  High  it  shall 
be  the  effort  of  my  life  to  shed  honor  upon  this 
diploma."  Her  thesis  was  upon  ship  fever,  which 
she  had  ample  opportunities  for  observing  at  Block- 
ley.  It  was  so  ably  written  that  the  faculty  of  Ge- 
neva determined  to  give  it  publication. 

It  is  in  keeping  with  the  idea  of  this  story  to  add 
that  the  proceeds  of  her  own  industry  have  been 
adequate  to  the  entire  expense  of  her  medical  edu- 
cation— about  eight  hundred  dollars. 

She  recently  left  for  Paris,  with  the  design  of 
remaining  there  one  or  two  years,  hoping  to  obtain 
there  still  greater  facilities  for  the  farther  study  of 
her  profession  than  this  country  affords ;  especially 
in  the  department  of  surgery,  which  she  has  had 
but  little  opportunity  to  see. 

She  will  return  when  this  purpose  is  accomplish- 
ed, to  practice  medicine  in  all  its  branches,  and  will 
probably  settle  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  her  example  will  be  follow- 
ed, and  that  we  shall  soon  have  a  class  of  female 
practitioners  properly  qualified  to  attend  upon  their 
own  sex  especially,  and  that  the  modern  fashion  of 
employing  accoucheurs  will  be  exploded. 

The  following  extract  from  the  writings  of  Cob- 
bett,  although  rather  coarse,  are  full  of  sound  sense 
and  will  be  read  with  interest. 


ELIZABETH    BLACKWELL.  433 

"  I  am  well  aware  of  the  hostility  which  I  shall  excite,  but  there  is 
another  subject  on  which  my  duty  compels  me  to  speak;  I  mean  the 
employing  of  male-operators,  on  those  occasions  where  females  used  to 
be  employed.  And  here  I  have  every  thing  against  me;  the  now  general 
custom,  even  amongst  the  most  chaste  and  delicate  woman ;  the  ridicule 
continually  cast  on  old  mid  wives;  the  interest  of  a  profession,  for  the 
members  of  which  I  entertain  more  respect  and  regard  than  for  those  of 
any  other;  and,  above  all  the  rest,  my  own  example  to  the  contrary,  and  my 
knowledge  that  every  husband  has  the  same  apolojry  that  I  had.  lint 
because  I  acted  wrong  myself,  it  is  not  less,  but  rather  more,  my  duty  to 
endeavor  to  dissuade  others  from  doing  the  same.  My  wile  had  suffered 
very  severely  with  her  second  child,  which,  at  last,  was  still-born.  The 
next  time  I  pleaded  for  tlie  doctor;  and,  after  every  argument  that  I  could 
think  of,  obtained  a  reluctant  consent.  Her  life  was  so  dear  to  me,  that 
every  thing  else  appeared  as  nothing.  Every  husband  has  the  same 
apology  to  make ;  and  thus,  from  the  good,  and  not  from  the  bad  feelings 
of  men,  the  practice  has  become  far  too  general,  for  me  to  hope  even  to 
narrow  it;  but,  nevertheless,  I  can  not  refrain  from  giving  my  opinion  on 
the  subject. 

We  are  apt  to  talk  in  a  very  unceremonious  style  of  our  rude  ancestors, 
of  their  gross  habits,  their  want  of  delicacy  in  their  language.  But  rude 
and  unrefined  and  indelicate  as  they  might  be,  they  did  not  suffer,  in  the 
cases  aliuded  to,  the  approaches  of  men,  which  approaches  are  unceremo- 
niously suffered,  by  their  polished  and  refined  and  dflicate  daughters; 
and  of  unmarried  men  too,  in  many  cases;  and  of  very  young  men. 

From  all  antiquity  this  office  was  allotted  to  woman.  Moses's  life  was 
saved  by  the  humanity  of  the  Egyptian  midwife;  and  to  the  employment 
of  females  in  this  memorable  case,  the  world  is  probably  indebted  for 
that  which  has  been  left  it  by  that  greatest  of  all  law-givers,  whose  insti- 
tutes rude  as  they  were,  have  been  the  foundation  of  all  of  the  wisest  and 
most  just  laws  in  all  the  countries  of  Europe  and  America.  It  was  the 
fellow  feeling  of  the  midwife  for  the  poor  mother  that  saved  Moses.  And 
none  but  a  rnother  can,  in  such  cases,  feel  to  the  full  and  effectual  extent 
that  which  the  operator  ought  to  feel.  She  has  been  in  the  same  state 
herself;  she  knows  more  about  the  matter,  except  in  cases  of  very  rare 
occurrence,  than  any  man,  however  great  his  learning  and  experience, 
can  ever  know.  She  knows  all  the  previous  symptoms;  she  can  judge 
more  correctly  than  man  can  judge  in  such  a  case ;  she  can  put  questions 
to  the  party,  which  a  man  can  not  put;  the  communication  between  the 
two  is  wholly  without  reserve;  the  person  of  the  one  is  given  up  to  the 
other,  as  completely  as  her  own  is  under  her  command.  This  never  can 
be  the  case  with  a  man-operator;  for,  after  all  that  can  be  said  or  done, 
the  native  feeling  of  woman,  in  whatever  rank  of  life,  will,  in  these  cases, 
restrain  them  from  saying  and  doing,  before  a  man,  even  before  a  hus- 
band, many  things  which  they  ought  to  say  and  do.  So  that,  perhaps, 
even  with  regard  to  the  bare  question  of  comparative  safety  to  life,  the 
midwife  is  the  preferable  person. 

But  safety  to  life  is  not  all.  The  preservation  of  life  is  not  to  be  pre- 
ferred to  everything.  Ought  not  a  man  to  prefer  death  to  the  commission 
of  treason  against  his  country?  Ought  not  a  man  to  die,  rather  than  save 
his  life  by  the  prostitution  of  his  wife  to  a  tyrant,  who  insists  upon  the 
one  or  the  other?  Every  man  and  every  woman  will  answer  in  the  affir- 
mative to  both  these  questions.  There  are  then,  cases  when  people 
ought  to  submit  to  certain  death.  Surely  then,  the  mere  chance,  the  mere 
possibility  of  it,  ought  not  to  outweigh  the  mighty  considerations  on  the 
other  side;  ought  not  to  overcome  that  inborn  modesty,  that  sacred 
55 


434  ELIZABETH    BLACKWELL. 

reserve  as  to  their  persons,  which,  as  I  said  before,  is  the  charm  of  charms 
of  the  female  sex,  and  which  our  mothers,  rude  as  they  were  called  by 
us,  took,  we  may  be  satisfied,  the  best  and  most  effectual  means  of  pre- 
serving. 

But  is  there,  after  all,  any  thing  real  in  this  greater  security  for  the  life 
of  either  mother  or  child?  If,  then,  risk  were  so  great  as  to  call  upon 
women  to  overcome  this  natural  repugnance  to  sutler  the  approaches  of 
a  man,  that  risk  must  be  general ;  it  must  apply  to  all  women ;  and, 
further,  it  must,  ever  since  the  creation  of  man,  always  have  so  applied. 
Now,  resorting  to  the  employment  of  men-operators  has  not  been  in  vogue 
in  Europe  more  than  about  seventy  years,  and  has  not  been  general  in 
England  more  than  about  thirty  or  forty  years.  So  that  the  risk  in  em- 
ploving  midwives  must,  of  late  years,  have  become  vastly  greater  than  it 
was  even  when  1  was  a  boy,  or  the  whole  race  must  have  been  extin- 
guished long  ago.  And,  then,  how  puzzled  we  should  be  to  account  lor 
tlie  building  of  all  the  cathedrals,  and  all  the  churches,  and  the  draining 
of  all  the  marshes,  and  all  the  fens,  more  than  a  thousand  years  before 
the  word  accoucheur  ever  came  from  the  lips  of  woman,  and,  before  the 
thought  ever  came  into  her  mind? 

But  to  return  once  more  to  the  matter  of  n'sfc  of  life ;  can  it  be  that 
nature  has  so  ordered  it,  that,  as  a  general  thing,  the  life  of  either  mother 
or  child  shall  be  in  danger,  even  if  there  were  no  attendant  at  all?  Can 
this  be")  Certainly  it  can  not:  safety  must  be  the  rule,  and  danger  the 
exception;  this  must  be  the  case,  or  the  world  never  could  have  been 
peopled;  and,  perhaps,  in  ninety-nine  cases  out  of  every  hundred,  if 
nature  were  left  wholly  to  herself,  all  would  be  right.  The  great  doctor, 
in  these  cases,  is,  comforting,  consoling,  cheering  up.  And  who  can 
perform  this  office  like  woman'?  who  have  for  these  occasions  a  language 
and  sentiments  which  seem  to  have  been  invented  tor  the  purpose ;  and 
be  they  what  they  may  as  to  general  demeanor  and  character,  they  have 
all,  upon  these  occasions,  one  common  feeling,  and  that  so  amiable,  so 
excellent,  as  to  admit  of  no  adequate  description.  They  completely 
forget,  for  the  time,  all  rivalships,  all  squabbles,  all  animosities,  all  hatred 
even ;  every  one  feels  as  if  it  were  her  own  particular  concern. 

These,  we  may  be  well  assured,  are  the  proper  attendants  on  these 
occasions;  the  mother,  the  aunt,  the  sister,  the  cousin,  and  female  neigh- 
bor; these  are  the  suitable  attendants,  having  some  experienced  women 
to  afford  extraordinary  aid,  if  such  be  necessary;  and  in  the  few  cases 
where  the  preservation  of  life  demands  the  surgeon's  skill,  he  is  always 
at  hand.  The  contrary  practice,  which  we  got  from  the  French,  is  not, 
however,  so  general  in  France  as  in  England.  We  have  outstripped  all 
the  world  in  this,  as  we  have  in  every  thing  which  proceeds  from  luxury 
and  effeminacy  on  the  one  hand,  and  from  poverty  on  the  other;  the 
millions  have  been  stripped  of  their  means  to  heap  wealth  on  the  thou- 
sands, and  have  been  corrupted  in  manners,  as  well  as  in  morals,  by 
vicious  examples  set  them  by  the  possessors  of  that  wealth.  As  reason 
sa\s  that  the  practice  of  which  I  complain  can  not  be  cured  without  a 
total  change  in  society,  it  would  be  presumption  in  me  to  expect  such 
cure  from  any  efforts  of  mine.  I  therefore  must  content  myself  with 
hoping  that  such  change  will  come,  and  with  declaring,  that  if  I  had  to 
live  my  live  over  again,  I  would  act  upon  the  opinions  which  1  have 
thought  it  my  bounden  duty  here  to  state  and  endeavor  to  maintain." 


ALVAN    CLARK.  435 


ALVAN  CLARK. 

NOWN  as  an  inventive  genius,  was  born  in 
Ashfield,  in  the  state  of  Massachusetts,  on 
the  8th  of  March,  1804,  and  is  the  fourth 
of  ten  children.  His  father  was  born  in  Har- 
wich, Cape  Cod,  where  his  ancestors  had  lived 
from  the  early  settlement  of  the  country.  His 
paternal  grandfather  and  great  grandfather  had 
been  masters  of  whaling  vessels.  In  youth  his 
father  was  accustomed  to  the  dangers  and  hard- 
ships of  a  sea-faring  life,  but  at  the  age  of  twenty- 
four,  he  removed  from  the  cape  into  the  western 
part  of  the  state  where  he  settled  as  a  farmer  in  the 
town  of  Ashfield.  His  means  were  limited,  but  his 
great  industry,  frugality  and  unwavering  integrity 
gave  him  influence  and  consequence  in  the  com- 
munity. His  sound  judgment  and  industrious 
habits  made  him  a  valuable  member  of  society,  and 
he  was  often  employed  as  arbiter  and  adviser  in  the 
affairs  of  others.  Alvan,  at  the  usual  age,  was  sent 
to  the  district  school,  with  an  intention  to  qualify 
him  to  become  a  farmer.  His  proficiency  in  the 
school  exercises  was  above  mediocrity.  When  he 
was  eight  years  old,  his  father  was  engaged  in  re- 
building a  saw  mill,  and  soon  after  in  remodeling  a 
grist  mill  upon  a  stream  near  the  family  mansion. 
The  plans,  deliberations  and  movements  of  the 
mill-wrights  attracted  his  attention,  and  probably 
induced  an  early  predilection  to  study  the  science 
of  mechanics  and  the  arts,  which  he  has  pursued 
with  so  much  success.  Mills,  clocks,  fire-arms  and 
every  specimen  of  handiwork,  which  came  under 
his  observation,  were  closely  inspected,  and  the  de- 
signs and  ideas  of  the  inventor  readily  apprehended. 
By  the  aid  of  a  turning  lathe,  which  had  been 
erected  for  the  use  of  an  elder  brother  under  the 


436  ALVAN    CLARK. 

roof  of  the  mill,  and  a  few  ordinary  tools,  the  process 
of  self-training  in  practical  mechanics,  which  had 
been  commenced  with  a  jack-knife  under  the  pater- 
nal roof,  was  continued  with  the  greatest  ardor.  The 
father  felt  a  laudable  pride  in  the  indications  of  the 
son,  but  his  mother,  a  woman  of  great  discretion 
and  extensive  reading,  was  unwilling  that  his  at- 
tention should  be  diverted  from  agriculture.  She 
was  desirous  that  all  her  sons  should  be  farmers; 
and  having  formed  an  opinion,  which  observation 
too  often  verifies,  that  inventive  geniuses  are  not 
always  the  most  successful  in  life,  she  thought  to 
encourage  his  ingenuity  would  be  unfavorable  to 
that  thrift  which  usually  accompanies  honest  indus- 
try in  the  cultivation  of  a  farm.  She  was  the 
daughter  of  Elisha  Bassett  of  Dennis,  Cape  Cod, 
whom  the  grandson  remembers  with  a  lively  inte- 
rest. He  was  a  man  of  vigorous  intellect,  improved 
by  various  and  extensive  reading,  and  was  acquaint- 
ed with  some  of  the  higher  branches  of  mathematics. 
He  removed  from  the  cape  and  settled  in  the  town 
of  Ashfield,  where  he  lived  to  a  very  advanced  age, 
occupied  in  cultivating  his  farm,  and  was  frequently 
employed  in  surveying  lands  in  his  own  and  the 
neighboring  towns.  Notwithstanding  the  fears  of 
his  mother,  Clark  was  determined  to  devote  his  en- 
ergies to  the  mechanic  arts.  He  early  discovered  a 
taste  for  drawing,  and  his  brother  George,  who  was 
a  youth  of  uncommon  promise,  and  who  died  at 
the  age  of  eighteen,  when  Alvan  was  twelve,  had 
predicted  that  his  younger  brother  would  be  a 
painter;  for  he  had  carved,  with  remarkable  skill, 
on  the  smooth  bark  of  a  beech  tree  in  the  forest,  the 
figure  of  a  man  in  the  attitude  of  skating.  No  op- 
portunity was  afforded  him  to  see  good  paintings ; 
but  engravings  and  the  history  of  art  and  artists,  he 
regarded  with  enthusiastic  admiration.  His  elder 
brother,  Barnabas,  had  worked  upon  the  farm  and 
in  the  mills  until  he  became  of  age,  after  which,  he 


ALVAN    CLARK.  437 

devoted  two  years  in  a  wagon  maker's  shop  to  learn 
the  trade,  at  which  time  Alvan  had  reached  his 
eighteenth  year.  Their  father  then  furnished  a  shop 
and  tools  to  Barnabas,  and  Alvan  became  his  ap- 
prentice. After  the  close  of  the  first  year,  having 
gained  considerable  skill  in  the  uses  of  the  hatchet, 
saw,  plane,  paint-brush,  and  other  instruments  used 
in  the  shop,  he  began  to  think  that  he  was  destined 
for  a  higher  pursuit.  He  had  heard  of  Harding's 
fame,  who  was  born  and  had  friends  in  that  part  of 
the  country,  and  was  then  practicing  the  art  of  por- 
trait painting  in  Northampton. 

Before  he  was  nineteen,  Clark  abandoned  his 
brother's  shop,  visited  Hartford,  where  he  had 
heard  that  engraving  was  carried  on  upon  an  ex- 
tensive scale,  and  introduced  himself  to  several  en- 
gravers, with  a  view  of  obtaining  instruction,  or  a 
situation  as  assistant;  but  finding  his  means  in- 
adequate to  the  required  terms,  he  was  obliged  to 
return  without  accomplishing  his  object.  But  this 
journey  was  not  without  use  to  him,  for  he  there 
examined  the  presses,  plates,  tools,  and  implements 
of  the  engravers  studios,  and  had  an  opportunity 
of  seeing  the  printers  work,  and  of  asking  advice 
and  information  from  masters  and  young  men  in 
these  establishments.  This  visit  strengthened  that 
resolution  of  purpose,  which  was  the  surest  presage 
of  success.  He  procured  blank  plates,  gravers, 
etching-wax,  and  requsite  materials,  and  the  in- 
formation necessary  for  making  and  using  copper- 
plate ink,  returned  home,  and  commenced  work  as 
an  engraver.  Keeping  emolument  steadily  in  view, 
his  first  attempt  was  a  plate  for  school  certificates 
or  rewards  of  merit,  for  juvenile  members  of 
country  schools.  After  completing  his  engraving, 
press,  and  ink,  his  utmost  endeavor  to  print  it 
fairly,  proved  abortive.  Another  journey  to  Hart- 
ford, a  distance  of  fifty  miles,  was  performed  on 
foot,   and   such  information  obtained,   as   enabled 


438  ALVAN    CLARK. 

him  to  carry  out  his  design,  in  the  successful  print- 
ing and  sale  of  his  first  effort.  At  this  juncture, 
it  was  deemed  by  himself  and  friends,  very  im- 
portant that  some  further  instruction  should  be 
obtained,  for  without  it,  he  could  not  hope  to  excel 
in  an  art,  so  difficult  to  acquire. 

He  had  occasionally  attempted  drawing  and 
painting  portraits  from  life,  and  in  the  autumn  of 
1823,  he  visited  Boston,  where  he  formed  valuable 
acquaintances,  who  still  remain  his  friends  and 
patrons.  While  in  Boston  he  studiously  applied 
himself  through  the  winter,  but  his  proficiency 
won  no  marked  attention  from  persons  critically 
versed  in  the  objects  of  his  pursuit.  The  next 
spring  and  summer,  he  endeavored  to  obtain  em- 
ployment as  a  portrait  and  miniature  painter,  in 
Northampton,  Albany,  Troy,  and  at  Saratoga 
Springs,  but  met  with  but  little  encouragement. 
He  returned  home  again  in  the  autumn,  and 
having  occasion  to  send  to  Boston  for  colors  and 
brushes,  he  received  them  wrapped  in  a  piece  of 
newspaper,  which  contained  an  advertisement  for 
engravers.  Without  delay,  he  proceeded  to  Boston, 
the  place  designated  for  enquiry,  and  found  that 
they  were  wanted  at  the  Merrimac  print  works, 
for  calico  engraving.  He  immediately  went  to 
Lowell,  at  that  time  a  part  of  the  town  of  Chelms- 
ford, where  he  learned  that  the  work  had  been  put 
under  contract  to  Mason  &  Baldwin,  of  Phila- 
delphia, for  a  series  of  years,  and  that  Mason 
would  soon  be  in  Lowell,  to  assume  control  in  that 
department,  and  would  want  assistance.  Upon 
Mason's  arrival,  Clark's  qualifications  were  ex- 
amined, and  he  thereupon  engaged  as  engraver, 
for  the  term  of  four  years.  Finding  himself  fairly 
settled  under  the  instruction  of  an  intelligent  su- 
perintendent, with  a  prospect  of  gaining  support 
in  a  respectable  art,  upon  entering  his  twenty-third 
year,  he  married  Maria,   the   daughter  of  Asher 


ALVAN    CLARK.  439 

Pease,  of  the  town  of  Conway,  adjoining  to  Ash- 
field;  and  this  connexion  was  the  result  of  an 
early,  mutual  attachment.  While  employed  at 
Lowell,  he  found  that  in  transferring  dies,  where 
bold,  heavy  lines  lie  contiguous  to  the  fine  and 
delicate,  the  fine  work  will  first  fill,  become  un- 
sound, and  break  off  before  the  heavy  will  be 
raised.  To  obviate  this,  the  usual  mode  had  been, 
to  scrape  or  file  away  the  surface,  wherever  there 
appeared  signs  of  overworking.  Clark  proposed  to 
his  employer,  while  deliberating  on  a  case  which 
gave  unusual  trouble,  to  coat  all  the  parts  upon  the 
soft  steel  cylinder,  and  also  the  bearings  or  pivots 
of  the  cylinder,  which  are  not  inclined  to  fill 
readily,  with  asphaltum  dissolved  in  spirits  of  tur- 
pentine, and  after  drying,  to  immerse  the  work  in 
nitric  acid,  until  the  exposed  parts  should  be  duly 
reduced,  after  which,  returning  the  work  to  the 
press,  the  stock  would  be  favorably  situated  for 
moulding  to  the  form  of  the  die.  This  invention, 
which  has  proved  to  be  of  great  use,  and  other 
suggestions  and  improvements  of  his,  gained  him 
credit  for  superior  skill  and  ingenuity. 

Mason  relinquished  his  undertaking  at  Lowell, 
at  the  end  of  the  first  year,  and  returned  to  Phila- 
delphia, but  Clark  continued,  for  a  short  time,  in 
the  employ  of  the  Merrimac  company.  Having 
gained  the  confidence  of  Mason  before  he  left,  he 
received  from  him  and  his  partner,  a  liberal  offer 
to  remove  to  Providence,  Rhode  Island,  and  to 
conduct  a  branch  of  their  business  in  that  place. 
After  a  residence  of  more  than  a  year  in  Providence, 
he  removed  to  New  York,  and  was  more  or  less 
connected  with  those  eminent  mechanicians,  until 
the  dissolution  of  their  copartnership,  and  after- 
wards with  Baldwin,  for  more  than  six  years. 

The  infant  and  fluctuating  condition  of  calico 
printing  in  this  country,  rendered  his  success  and 
means  of  support  from  his  employment  very  uncer- 


440  ALVAN    CLARK. 

tain.  In  New  York  he  formed  acquaintances  with 
the  most  eminent  artists,  and  his  desire  to  become 
a  painter  again  revived.  In  the  summer  of  1830, 
he  made  a  miniature  copy  of  one  of  Frothingham's 
fine  portraits  of  an  old  man.  Previous  to  this,  all 
his  attempts  had  shown  the  chalky  crudeness  of 
the  novice,  but  in  this  effort  he  began  to  perceive 
the  effect  of  tone.  He  still  found  great  difficulty  in 
executing  from  life  with  the  power  and  effect  dis- 
played in  this  copy.  He  passed  more  than  three 
years  in  New  York,  deriving  a  small  income  from 
his  attention  to  engraving  and  other  mechanical 
employments,  upon  which  he  depended  for  the  sup- 
port for  himself  and  his  increasing  family.  He  did 
not,  however,  neglect  any  opportunity  which  pre- 
sented for  examining  and  studying  paintings.  His 
conduct  as  a  man,  and  his  proficiency  which  he 
had  now  made  in  various  branches  of  science  and 
the  arts,  recommended  him  to  the  attention  of  men 
of  learning,  wealth  and  taste,  but  his  pecuniary 
prospects  were  by  no  means  flattering. 

In  the  spring  of  1832,  he  received  a  liberal  offer 
from  Andrew  Robeson,  to  assist  in  the  engraving 
department  of  his  manufactory  at  Fall  River.  This 
offer  he  accepted  and  removed  to  that  place;  and 
though  no  patent  had  been  sought  or  obtained  by 
him  for  his  invention  in  the  improvement  of  trans- 
ferring dies,  its  great  utility  had  now  become  known. 
Workmen  from  Manchester  in  England,  who  had 
been  employed  there,  admitted  that  it  was  not  be- 
fore known  in  England,  and  that  it  was  there  called 
the  American  invention;  and  it  now  having  be- 
come an  auxiliary  in  every  engraving  establishment 
for  facilitating  and  perfecting  a  transfer,  was  proof 
of  its  importance.  Great  secrecy  was  practiced  in 
the  art  at  this  time,  and  in  shops  generally  closed, 
so  that  detection  of  infringements  upon  a  patent, 
had  one  been  obtained,  would  have  been  difficult. 
This  improvement  having  been  so  far  regarded  as 


ALVAN    CLARK.  441 

public  property,  that  it  was  not  deemed  expedient  to 
attempt  to  reclaim  it.  Thus  it  fell  from  the  hands 
of  the  ingenious  inventor  without  affording  him 
any  profit ;  and  his  neglect  to  obtain  a  patent,  which 
might  have  been  effected,  had  he  made  an  early 
application,  showed  a  greater  zeal  and  ardor  to 
make  discoveries,  than  a  careful  foresight  to  avail 
himself  of  the  emoluments  to  be  derived  from  such 
a  useful  invention.  By  continuing  in  Robeson's 
establishment  for  three  years,  his  pecuniary  circum- 
stances were  considerably  improved,  and  finding 
that  the  miniatures  which  he  had  occasionally 
painted  were  favorably  regarded  by  persons  of  ob- 
servation and  taste,  he  was  induced  to  resume  the 
art  of  painting.  He  removed  to  Boston  in  1835, 
where  his  efforts  have  ever  since  met  with  adequate 
remuneration.  He  had  from  his  youth  incidentally 
devoted  much  attention  to  the  study  of  optics,  and 
had  made  prisms  of  unusual  perfection  for  the 
camera  lucida.  He  had  acquired  in  adjusting  and 
tracing  outlines  with  this  instrument  a  skill,  which 
has  not  been  surpassed. 

Mr.  Borden  in  his  report  of  the  trigonometrical 
survey  of  Massachusetts,  bestows  high  commenda- 
tion upon  his  suggestion  for  its  application  in  that 
work;  and  the  prisms  now  used  in  the  coast  survey 
were  made  by  Clark.  Notwithstanding  his  ac- 
knowledged merit  as  a  portrait  and  miniature  paint- 
er, he  gave  a  portion  of  his  time  to  the  study  of 
mechanics,  and  also  to  the  practice  of  mechanical 
arts  and  science  in  his  workshop,  connected  with 
his  house  in  Cambridge.  In  1841,  his  signal  in- 
vention of  the  false  muzzled  rifle  was  patented.  In 
the  course  of  his  experiments  for  the  perfection  of 
this  instrument,  and  in  his  description  of  its  con- 
struction for  the  purpose  of  showing  its  use,  he 
challenged  all  the  prize  shooters  in  the  country  at 
the  odds  of  two  to  one,  and  soon  found  opportuni- 
ties to  test  the  hazard  he  had  incurred  by  such  a 
56 


442  ALVAN    CLARK. 

proposal.  This  challenge  was  accepted,  and  jour- 
neys of  hundreds  of  miles  were  made  expressly  to 
meet  his  competitors,  where  he  was  well  aware 
that  the  greatest  skill  would  be  brought  against  him. 
In  seven  matches  of  ten  shots  on  the  side  of  two 
hundred  yards,  six  resulted  in  his  favor.  His  frank- 
ness, candor  and  management  on  his  arena  won  for 
him  the  greatest  respect  from  his  vanquished  oppo- 
nents, and  not  one  word  of  abuse  or  ill  nature  was 
received  by  him  on  these  occasions.  In  the  hands 
of  the  late  Edwin  Wesson,  as  manufacturer,  this 
rifle  has  gained  precedence  over  all  others ;  but  for  all 
his  matches,  Clark  had  made  his  guns  with  his  own 
hands  In  1845,  and  since,  he,  with  the  assistance 
of  his  son,  constructed  several  Newtonian  reflecting 
telescopes  with  apertures  from  five  to  eight  inches; 
and  though  successful  in  resolving  the  double  stars 
and  clusters,  well  known  as  tests  of  such  instru- 
ments, he  soon  found,  that,  however  perfect  in 
workmanship,  the  position  of  the  observer  and  the 
least  unfavorable  condition  of  the  atmosphere  ren- 
dered their  action  unsatisfactory,  when  placed  by 
the  side  of  the  refractors. 

In  1848,  he  procured  from  Paris  a  pair  of  discs 
for  an  object  glass  of  5\  inches  aperture,  at  a  cost  of 
seventy  dollars,  from  which  he  constructed  an  in- 
strument 87  inches  in  focal  length,  which  was  pur- 
chased by  Mr.  Wells,  principal  of  the  Putnam  free 
school  in  Newburyport,  for  five  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars.  It  is  furnished  with  a  range  of  powers  from 
45  to  over  1100,  and  exhibits  clearly  the  fifth  and 
sixth  stars  in  the  trapezium  of  Theta  Orionis,  and  it 
is  believed  that  it  is  the  only  American  refractor, 
which  has  ever  displayed  the  close  and  delicate 
companion  of  Zeta  Herculis.  The  sixth  star  of  the 
trapezium,  though  connected  with  one  of  the  most 
interesting  objects  in  the  heavens  for  the  telescope, 
was  overlooked  by  all  observers,  until  after  1830, 
and  with  the  exception  of  the  great  Cambridge  re- 


£z^£> 


GEORGE  W.  MATSELL.  443 

fractor,  and  the  one  which  Clark  has  lately  made, 
this  is  the  only  instrument  now  in  Massachusetts 
by  which  it  can  be  seen.  In  these  pursuits  he  has 
often  spent  the  whole  of  the  night  in  testing  the 
power  and  accuracy  of  his  telescopes,  until  the 
morning  sun  had  driven  every  star  from  view.  He 
has  never  attempted  to  construct  or  use  the  micro- 
meter, but  this  little  instrument  employed  by  philo- 
sophers in  determining  with  wonderful  accuracy, 
minute  angles  as  a  basis  for  computing  the  magni- 
tudes, distances  and  motions  of  heavenly  bodies, 
has  not  escaped  his  particular  examination. 

Mr.  Clark  still  practices  portrait  and  miniature 
painting  in  Boston,  and  at  the  same  time  his  love 
for  philosophical  experiments,  which  success  or  fail- 
ure does  not  diminish,  leads  him  to  devote  his 
leisure  hours  to- science  and  the  mechanic  arts. 


GEORGE  WASHINGTON  MATSELL. 

HIS   gentleman  has  been  selected  as  the 
well  known  originator  of  one  of  the  most 
perfect  systems  of  municipal  police  which 
has  ever  been  successfully  put  into  operation 
under  a  republican  government.     In  addition 
to  this,  his  life  has  from  his  early  years,  been 
Prolifi.c  in  incident  and  adventure. 

George  Washington  Matsell,  although  a  native 
of  the  United  States,  is  of  English  origin,  on  both 
the  paternal  and  maternal  side.  His  father,  in  or 
about  the  year  1784 — then  a  young  English  radical, 
and  strongly  tinctured  with  republican  prejudices — 
emigrated  to  this  country,  and  entered  the  employ 
of  a  mercantile  house  in  Wall  street,  New  York 
city.     We  do  not  know  the  exact  reason  for  this 


444  GEORGE  W.  MATSELL. 

change  of  allegiance,  but  believe  that  Mr.  Matsell 
(the  name  was  then  spelled  Matzell)  had  made 
himself  obnoxious  to  the  British  government  by  his 
bold  advocacy  of  liberal  sentiments;  and,  as  the 
affairs  of  the  continent  were,  at  that  time,  operating 
rather  critically  upon  the  stability  of  the  English 
throne,  it  is  nowise  impossible  that  a  hint  of  star 
chamber  interference  might  have  hastened  his  de- 
parture. 

He  returned  in  nine  or  ten  years,  and  then  mar- 
ried a  Miss  Elizabeth  Constable,  a  lady  in  whose 
veins  flowed  the  blood  of  some  of  the  first  families 
in  the  realm,  and  who  is,  at  the  date  of  this  present 
sketch,  still  living  in  the  city  of  New  York.  After 
remaining  a  few  years,  he  returned,  and  locating 
his  residence  in  the  land  of  his  choice,  became,  in 
deed  and  in  truth,  an  American  citizen. 

Business  relations,  connected  with  property  of 
his  own  and  that  of  his  wife,  forced  him,  however, 
to  cross  the  Atlantic  frequently.  And,  as  at  times, 
Mrs.  M.  accompanied  her  husband,  one  or  two  of 
their  children,  we  believe,  were  born  on  British  soil. 
The  latter  years  of  his  life  were  quietly  spent  in  the 
city  of  his  early  business  relations;  and  in  March, 
1848,  he  was  gathered  to  his  fathers,  sincerely 
mourned  by  a  large  circle  of  friends  and  relatives. 

The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  the  city  of  New  York,  October 
25th,  1811.  During  the  season  of  extreme  boyhood,  he  might  have  been 
termed,  possibly,  not  a  bad  boy,  but  certainly  a  very  vigorous  shoot  of 
republicanism.  He  was  prompt  among  his  playmates  to  avenge  his  own 
wrongs,  or  those  of  an  injured  school-fellow,  and  manifested  fully  an 
average  fondness  for  the  rough  sports,  and  displays  of  harmless  pugilism, 
then  so  rife  among  the  youngsters  of  a  city,  whose  northern  limit  was 
not  much  above  Spring  "street,  and  when  skating  on  the  Collect — now 
coursed  by  the  track  of  the  Harlem  rail  road — and  stoning  larks  in  the 
meadows,"  where  Canal  street  at  present  stretches  from  Broadway  to  the 
North  river,  was  considered  rare  fun,  for  an  indulgence  in  which,  many 
an  unlucky  truant  submitted  to  school  discipline.  There  are  thousands 
still  alive, "who  remember  the  desperate  feuds  existing  between  the  rival 
fictions  of  juveniles,  in  those  days,  and  some  there  are,  who  still  carry 
tin-  seal  and  signature  of  membership,  in  the  shape  of  a  cracked  skull  or 
broken  arm.  The  result  of  this  was  the  then  called  "fighting  streets," 
where  these  boy  bravos,  taking  sides,  either  through  prejudice  of  location 


GEORGE  W.  MATSELL.  445 

or  personal  animosity,  a  fierce,  and  often,  not  bloodless  warfare,  was  waged 
by  the  parties,  in  which  fists  were  freely  used,  and  sometimes  clubs  and 
stones  came  in  as  a  reserve  corps  to  settle  the  question  of  victory.  In 
these  demonstrations,  young  Matsell,  we  have  reason  to  suspect,  was 
seldom  in  the  back-ground.  The  excitement  and  rough  exercise  was 
congenial  to  his  natural  activity  of  temperament;  and,  while  the  rude 
gymnastics  served  to  spread  the  muscles  of  his  frame,  the  foundation  of 
a  constitution  was  also  laid,  upon  which  at  this  day,  rests  a  superstructure 
of  almost  iron  endurance. 

At  nine  years  old,  we  find  George  W.  at  work,  farming,  with  a  brother- 
in-law,  on  Baskingridge,  New  Jersey.  But  tilling  the  soil  evidently  did 
not  agree  with  his  disposition,  for  two  years  thereafter,  with  the  consent 
of  his  parents,  he  commenced  an  apprenticeship  in  the  art  and  mystery 
of  a  sailor's  life,  on  board  the  brig  Catharine  Rodgers,  bound  for  Mobile 
and  Blakely,  Alabama.  Fifteen  days  out,  the  vessel  was  wrecked  on 
Crab  key,  and  our  juvenile  navigator  with  much  difficulty  escaped  with 
his  life.  , 

A  residence  of  several  months  among  the  wreckers  who  made  the 
Bahama  and  Florida  reefs  their  abiding  place,  was  terminated  by  his 
being  finally  sent  to  the  American  consul  at  Nassau,  New  Providence, 
where,  for  lack  of  other  employment,  he  busied  himself,  for  small  wages, 
in  one  of  the  many  salt  yards  in  that  vicinity.  He  finally  reached  Mobile 
in  a  coasting  schooner,  from  whence,  after  a  long  interval,  during  which, 
we  believe,  he  was,  for  a  while,  domiciled  among  a  neighboring  tribe  of 
Creek  Indians,  the  truant  wanderer  pointed  his  face  homeward,  in  a 
lumber  vessel,  which  was  sailing  for  New  York.  He  was  received  by 
his  parents,  as  one  from  the  dead — by  some  strange  fatality,  no  tidings 
of  his  rescue  from  the  wreck  of  the  Catharine  Rodgers,  having  reached 
their  ears,  until  he  himself  conveyed  the  welcome  news  in  person. 

The  hardships  and  mishaps  consequent  on  this  trip,  would,  in  most 
instances,  have  discouraged  a  lad  so  young,  from  any  farther  efforts  to 
try  his  fortunes  upon  the  treacherous  wave ;  but  the  love  of  adventure 
was  too  strong  within  to  be  thus  easily  repressed,  and  after  a  voyage  to 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  he  was  regularly  indentured  (then  scarcely 
in  his  teens,)  as  ship  boy  to  the  captain  of  an  East  Indiaman,  and  sailed 
for  Canton.  This  vessel,  called  the  London  Trader,  made  a  long  but 
successful  voyage,  during  which  the  future  chief  received  a  series  of  very 
useful  lessons  in  the  matters  of  discipline,  regularity  and  subordination. 

His  was  no  dainty  dieting  on  board  the  London  Trader,  but  with  fore- 
castle fare,  and  subjected  to  all  the  usual  privations  of  a  sailor's  life,  the 
romance  of  the  business  settled  into  stern  reality;  and  on  the  return  of 
the  vessel  he  felt  perfectly  willing  to  adopt  some  other  profession.  The 
young  sailor  had  gained  one  thing,  however,  by  this  roving  life,  which 
Was  to  prove  of  incalculable  advantage.  He  had  opened  the  book  of 
human  nature,  and  commenced,  while  yet  a  boy,  to  read  it  for  himself! 
He  had  learned  to  judge  of  men,  not  through  common  fame,  but  by 
observation;  and  although  his  school  was  somewhat  disagreeable,  yet  the 
adverse  circumstances  under  which  the  lessons  were  studied,  fixed  the 
rules  and  maxims,  thus  acquired,  more  firmly  on  his  memory. 

A  natural  taste  for  drawing  and  design,  early  developed,  was  the  means 
of  procuring,  shortly  after  his  return  from  China,  a  situation  in  the  estab- 
lishment of  Messrs.  Barrett  &  Tileston,  extensive  silk  dyers  and  printers 
on  Staten  island,  where,  forgetting  his  former  predilections  for  the  sea, 
he  commenced  a  new  vocation.  His  business  was  projecting,  drawing 
and  caning  the  pattern  blocks  for  kerchiefs  and  other  printed  silk  goods, 
an  art,  at  that  time,  but  little  known  or  practiced  on  this  side  of  the 


446  GEORGE   W.    MATSELL. 

Atlantic.  Young  Matsell  first  went  to  Staten  island  in  1826,  he  then 
being  but  fifteen  years  old.  His  progress  was,  however,  rapid,  and 
although  he  remained  only  six  or  eight  years,  yet  many  of  his  designs 
are  in  use  at  the  present  day,  and  acknowledged  to  be  among  the  most 
chaste  and  beautiful  extant.  While  in  this  business,  he  also  entered,  with 
spirit,  into  the  philanthropic  projects  of  the  day,  and  besides  acting  as 
president  of  the  local  temperance  society  of  the  island,  was  for  a  long 
period  a  superintendent  of  the  sabbath  schools  in  the  vicinity. 

In  1834,  Mr.  Matsell  married  Ellen  M.  Barrett,  daughter  of  George  M. 
Barrett,  the  principal  partner  in  the  firm  above  mentioned,  and  from  this 
period  we  date  the  public  life  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Having 
removed  to  the  city  of  New  York,  and  opened  a  bookstore  in  Chatham 
street,  the  new  relation  in  which  he  stood  to  the  community  seems  to 
have  had  its  effect  in  rousing  the  latent  energies  of  the  man ;  and  with 
the  liberal  principles  which  he  inherited  most  fully,  from  his  parents,  it 
is  nowise  strange  that  he  entered  enthusiastically  into  the  political  arena; — 
a  democrat  of  the  straightest  sect.  Those  acquainted  with  the  history 
of  parties  in  this  country  very  well  know  the  influence  excited  in  years 
past  by  the  sachems  of  Tammany,  upon  the  political  movements  of  the  day. 
They  will  also  remember  that  memorable  epoch  when,  in  1835,  the  so 
called  locofocos — then  but  an  infant  giant  as  an  association — were  ejected 
from  Tammany  hall.  With  that  portion  of  the  democracy,  thus  expelled 
by  faction  from  brotherhood  and  communion,  went  George  W.  Matsell, 
even  in  so  short  a  time,  a  prominent  member  of  a  party  movement,  whose 
purposes  and  principles  were  soon  to  extend  throughout  the  Union  with 
an  almost  all  controding  power. 

Expulsion  from  the  ancient  wigwam  did  not  discourage  him,  but  fore- 
seeing the  result,  he,  with  colaborers  ceased  not  their  efforts  in  the  cause 
of  democratic  liberty,  until,  in  1837,  in  company  with  Thomas  S.  Day,  a 
veteran  advocate  of  Jeffersonian  principles,  and  others,  Mr.  Matsell  had 
the  pleasure  of  heading  the  procession  of  his  fellow  democrats,  on  their 
return  to  Tammany,  where  all  petty  differences  being  adjusted,  the  pipe 
of  peace  was  once  again  passed  around  the  council  fire. 

It  is  not  generally  known,  yet  such  is  the  fact,  that  to  Mr.  Matsell,  aided 
by  a  tew  kindred  spirits,  the  locofbco  party  is  indebted  for  its  extensive 
and  almost  perfect  plan  of  partizan  organization.  We  are  not  at  liberty 
to  disclose  details,  or  we  might  show,  how,  from  an  obscure  garret  in  an 
obscure  street  in  New  York  city — to  which  the  members  of  a  certain 
club  secretly  came,  and  from  which  they  stealthily  departed — has  ema- 
nated the  most  powerful  scheme  of  party  tactics  ever  put  in  operation  in 
this  country.  From  that  then  unknown  conclave,  or  from  a  common 
centre,  radiated  the  incipient  impulses  of  a  subtle  influence,  which  has 
since  extended  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  whether 
for  good  or  for  evil,  we  pronounce  not,  but  that  the  originators  were  pure 
and  patriotic  in  their  intention,  is  most  fully  believed. 

The  same  principle  has  been,  more  lately  applied,  by  Mr.  Matsell  to  a 
different  object,  but  with  the  same  success,  and  we  only  make  this  di- 
gression for  the  purpose  of  indicating  the  natural  inclination  of  his  genius 
towards  schemes  of  concentrated  effort,  directed  by  strict  rules  of  disci- 
pline and  order. 

In  the  years  1837-8,  a  lucrative  and  honorable  post  in  the  customs, 
seems  to  have  had  a  partial  effect  in  directing  the  energies  of  his  mind 
in  a  new  channel.  Circumstances  had  induced  him  to  investigate,  with 
more  than  ordinary  care,  the  miserable  system  of  police,  which,  at  that 
time,  seemed  more  calculated  to  offer  security  to  vill.uiy,  than  protection 
to  the  citizen,  and  it  is  highly  probable,  that  long  before  he  was  placed 


GEORGE   W.    MATSELL.  447 

officially  in  immediate  contact  with  the  so  called  conservators  of  the 
public  peace,  his  leisure  intervals  were  employed  in  devising  measures 
of  reform. 

In  1840,  Mr.  Matsell  was  appointed  police  justice.  He  was,  at  that 
time  but  thirty-one  years  old,  and  the  youngest  individual  who  ever  re- 
ceived the  appointment. 

His  associate  magistrates  were  Messrs.  Parker,  Stevens  and  Merritt. 
A  very  short  experience  upon  the  bench,  served  to  convince  the  new 
magistrate,  that  the  police  and  the  police  courts  of  New  York  city,  were 
totally  inefficient — that  malpractices  had  crept  into  the  administration  of 
both  the  executive  and  judicial  departments,  and  that  as  long  as  these 
evils  continued,  crime  would  increase,  while  the  safety  and  quiet  of  the 
community,  would  become  more  and  more  insecure  with  each  succeed- 
ing year. 

Added  to  numerous  other  defects  and  evidences  of  insecurity,  an 
odious  practice  had  obtained  among  the  more  efficient  officers,  called 
the  pigeon  system,  a  method  of  operation  in  detecting  crime,  which 
had  been  borrowed  from  European  police  management,  but  the  inevita- 
ble result  of  which  is  to  paralize  the  arm  of  justice,  by  too  close  a  contact 
with  the  mesmerism  of  rascality.  Our  space  will  not  permit  a  full  expose 
of  this  pernicious  collusion  between  officers  of  the  law  and  known  vil- 
lains, but  the  main  features  of  the  plan  are  familiar  to  a  great  portion  of  the 
public.  The  principle  was  to  set  a  thief  to  catch  the  thief.  Among  the 
rogues,  large  and  small,  who  still  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  at  large,  each 
officer  had  his  favorite — his  tool — his  pigeon!  A  compact,  for  mutual 
benefit  was  formed  between  the  two,  by  the  terms  of  which,  the  one  was 
to  act  the  part  of  the  spy  or  traitor,  whenever  his  official  partner  required 
his  aid,  for  which  double  villany  the  pigeon  was  promised  immunity 
in  his  depredations,  so  far  as  the  respectable  interference  of  the  officer 
could  avail! 

The  consequences  of  such  demoralizing  and  disgraceful  alliances,  were 
easily  foreseen  to  be  deplorable  in  the  extreme ;  yet  such  was  the  infatu- 
ation with  which  the  attaches  of  the  old  regime  clung  to  the  abomination 
that,  to  this  day,  it  has  strong  advocates  among  them,  and,  in  some  in- 
stances, is  even  stealthily  practiced. 

In  the  midst  of  all  these  troubles,  perplexities,  and  evils,  Mr.  Matsell 
took  his  seat  among  the  justices  of  police,  determined  that  although  he 
might  remain  unassisted  by  his  colleagues,  that  a  beneficial  reform 
should  be  accomplished  at  no  very  distant  day.  In  the  discharge  of  the 
onerous  duties  of  his  station,  he  was  industrious,  energetic,  and  in- 
defatigable, and  ever  tempering  the  administration  of  penal  law  with 
kindness  and  mercy.  Few  indeed  were  the  disgraced  children  of  sin  and 
shame,  who  ever  had  to  complain  of  unnecessary  harshness  or  insult  at 
his  hands.  Although  not  a  portion  of  his  duty,  yet  he  made  it  his 
business,  after  the  labors  of  the  day  had  closed,  to  patrol  the  more  ex- 
posed and  dangerous  portions  of  the  city,  frequently  in  disguise,  and 
many  an  unlucky  leatherhead  has  received  a  meaning  hint,  at  the  dis- 
charge of  the  watch,  in  the  morning,  in  relation  to  some  carelessness  or 
inattention  to  the  duties  of  his  beat,  while  on  the  midnight  tour;  the 
astonished  delinquent  never  dreaming  that  the  justice  was  his  own 
informant. 

By  a  course  of  observation  thus  minute  and  searching,  and  continued 
unremittingly  through  several  years,  an  almost  perfect  knowledge  of 
the  city  and  its  sanitory  wants  was  obtained;  the  haunts  of  the  dissolute 
and  vicious  were  ascertained  and  noted,  and  a  vast  amount  of  informa- 
tion treasured  which  to  the  world  at  large,  was  as  a  sealed  volume. 


448  GEORGE   W.    MATSELL. 

Justice  Matsell  had,  meanwhile,  made  himself  familiar  with  the  police 
organizations  of  London,  Paris,  and  other  European  capitals,  together 
with  the  systems  in  operation  on  this  continent;  and  when  in  the  winter 
of  1843  and  4,  an  earnest  movement  was  made  hy  the  city  of  New 
York,  for  a  radical  alteration  in  her  municipal  laws,  so  that  more  ad- 
equate protection  might  be  afforded  the  life  and  property  of  the  citizen, 
the  tact,  talent,  and  experience  of  the  present  chief,  were  put  in  active 
and  beneficial  requisition. 

The  frequency  of  alarming  depredations  upon  property,  and  the  ex- 
hibition of  brute  violence  by  organized  mobs,  at  short  intervals,  had 
fully  impressed  upon  the  community  the  absolute  necessity  for  a  more 
efficient  corps,  and  in  May,  1844,  a  law  passed  the  legislature,  es- 
tablishing the  present  New  York  police  department.  It  went  into  effect 
in  June,  1845. 

Mr.  Matsell  was  appointed  chief  of  the  new  organization,  and  entered 
upon  the  duties  of  his  office  with  all  the  zeal,  energy,  and  singleness  of 
purpose  for  which  he  is  eminently  and  justly  distinguished. 

It  was  a  task  of  no  small  difficulty.  The  machine  was  vast,  compli- 
cated, and  but  little  understood.  Its  various  details  were  to  be  per- 
fected, the  materials  for  its  structure  procured  and  properly  adjusted, 
and  the  experimental  trial  made  in  the  face  of  a  large  array  of  preju- 
dice, created  mainly  by  those  who  still  adhered  to  their  ancient  customs, 
and  sighed  at  the  memory  of  the  flesh  pots  of  Egypt. 

But  at  that  particular  and  critical  period,  the  city  of  New  York  was 
favored  with  a  chief  magistrate  of  more  than  ordinary  sagacity,  intel- 
ligence, and  firmness  of  purpose,  in  the  person  of  its  mayor,  Wm.  F. 
Ilavemeyer,  who  with  his  accustomed  penetration,  saw  plainly  the 
benefits  that  would  result  from  the  successful  application  of  these  new 
enactments,  and  cordially  gave  his  counsel  and  cooperation  to  the  task. 
But  with  all  the  aids  thus  cheerfully  granted  from  the  head  of  the 
municipal  government,  the  chief  of  police  found  a  herculean  labor 
before  him,  and  one,  which  would  tax  his  powers  of  organization,  and 
maxims  of  discipline  to  their  full  extent.  Nine  hundred  men  were  to  be 
selected  from  the  midst  of  the  citizens,  men  of  good  character,  and,  as 
far  as  possible,  of  intelligence;  men  of  shrewdness  and  habits  of  in- 
dustry and  carefulness:  and  to  this  body  of  freeman,  were  to  be  applied 
a  system  of  discipline  similar  to  that  of  the  camp,  without  the  summary 
process  of  enforcing  obedience,  which  the  military  officer  possesses. 

The  difficulties  were  appalling,  but  the  system  finally  triumphed,  and 
has  been  now  long  enough  in  existence  to  establish  the  universal  con- 
viction of  its  utility,  and  an  acknowledgment  of  the  wisdom  and  foresight 
of  the  master  mind  to  whom  it  owes  its  origin.* 

Without  the  military  basis  of  the  French,  or  the  perhaps  objectionable 
pension  features  of  the  English  police,  it  has  nevertheless  sufficient 
inherent  elements  of  power  and  stability  to  answer  the  purposes  intended, 
and  although  scarcely  four  years  have  yet  elapsed  since  the  inception 
and  promulgation  of  the  plan,  its  immense  advantages  are  already  ap- 
parent to  even  a  casual  observer. 

And  to  George  W.  Matsell,  more  than  to  any  other  one  individual,  do 
the  public  owe  this  admirable  organization.  All  his  energies  have  been 
devoted  to  its  perfection — eminently  has  he  been  successful.  In  that 
success  too,  rests  his  principal  reward,  since  he  is  this  day,  pecuniarily 
speaking,  a  poorer  man  than  when  he  first  assumed  the  duties  of  chief 
of  police. 

*  A  full  account  of  the  details  of  (his  admirable  system,  kindly  furnished  by  a  talented  gen. 
tleman  of  New  York  city,  will  appear  in  the  next  edition  of  this  work. 


GEORGE   W.    MATSELL.  449 

This  organization,  under  Mr.  Matsell,  lias  fully  equalled  the  anticipa- 
tions of  its  friends,  and  the  institution  will,  unless  tampered  with  by 
unwise  legislation,  long  remain  as  a  monument  of  his  industry,  taste  and 
perseverance.  Other  and  perhaps  abler  heads  were  engaged  in  its- 
origin,  but  to  the  present  chief  is  the  city  mainly  indebted  for  the  effi- 
ciency and  good  order  which  characterizes  the  institution.  Through  its 
means  a  revolution  has  been  effected  in  the  criminal  statistics  of  the 
largest  city  in  the  Union. 

Mr.  Matsell,  although,  formerly  an  ardent  poli- 
tician, has,  for  some  years  past,  withdrawn  in  a 
great  measure  from  party  operations ;  and  that  this 
course  on  his  part  has  been  appreciated,  may  be 
known  from  the  fact  that  he  has  enjoyed,  probably 
more  than  any  one  official  connected  with  the  city 
government,  the  confidence  of  all  parties.  Under 
the  rule  of  nativism,  in  1844-5,  his  intercourse  with 
Mayor  Harper  was  of  the  most  friendly  and  unre- 
served nature,  and  the  same  may  be  observed  with 
regard  to  Mayors  Mickle  and  Brady,  the  latter  of 
whom,  although  a  firm  whig,  nevertheless  evinced 
the  highest  regard  for  the  talents  of  Mr.  Matsell  as 
a  municipal  officer.  In  1848  likewise,  when  the 
office  of  chief  of  police  became  vacant  by  limitation 
of  the  teim  of  service,  the  board  of  aldermen,  of 
whom  the  whigs  had  a  decided  majority,  unani- 
mously confirmed  his  reappointment,  thus  yielding 
a  high  tribute  to  the  value  of  his  public  services. 
Of  the  estimation  in  which  he  is  held  by  the  present 
mayor,  William  F.  Havemeyer,  now  in  his  second 
term  of  office,  it  is  perhaps  needless  to  speak,  since 
from  him  has  Mr.  Matsell  received  two  nominations 
for  the  office  of  chief  of  police. 

Abroad,  his  name  is  extensively  known,  and  his 
correspondence,  connected  with  the  official  business 
of  the  department,  not  only  extends  through  the 
Union,  Mexico,  and  the  Canadas,  but  also  to  the 
heads  of  the  British  police  organization  and  those 
of  continental  Europe.  This  interchange  of  intelli- 
gence is  useful  to  all  parties,  and  will  probably  in- 
crease in  importance  and  piquancy. 

In   private   life,    Mr.   Matsell   is   irreproachable. 
57 


450  WALTER   BULLARD. 

Strongly'  attached  to  his  domestic  circle,  he  yet 
finds  but  little  leisure  to  indulge  in  those  fireside 
comforts  which  would  otherwise  form  the  more 
pleasant  portion  of  his  existence.  A  kind  husband 
and  an  indulgent  father — an  upright  magistrate 
and  a  good  citizen — now  in  the  prime  of  life,  with 
apparently  a  long  career  of  usefulness  before  him, 
there  is  but  small  doubt  that  the  character  he  has 
thus  far  sustained  will  continue  as  an  inheritance 
beyond  all  price,  and  that  his  name  will  be  remem- 
bered among  those  of  whom  it  is  said, 

"  Lord  keep  their  memory  green." 

Note. — One  night  during  the  past  winter,  when  Mr.  Matsell  in  dis- 
guise, was  perambulating  the  city,  he  was  actually  arrested,  after  a  severe 
struggle,  by  one  of  the  first  ward  police,  who  took  him  for  a  burglar. 
The  chief  suffered  himself  to  be  taken  to  the  station  house,  before  dis- 
closing his  name.  The  denouement  caused  unbounded  merriment.  It  is, 
perhaps,  needless  to  say,  that  the  chief  passed  a  well  merited  encomium 
upon  the  energetic  officer. 


WALTER  BULLARD. 

'AS  born  at  Holliston,  Middlesex  county, 
'  Massachusetts,  on  the  17th  of  July,  1803. 
His  parents  were  honest  and  industrious. 
His  mother  was  the  daughter  of  John  Harris, 
who  came  to  this  country  from  England,  pre- 
vious to  the  revolution.  He  married  in  America 
and  had  three  daughters,  after  which  he  returned 
to  England  on  business.  While  there,  the  war 
breaking  out,  he  was  compelled  to  join  the  army 
which  was  sent  here,  the  same  which  took  Boston 
and  burnt  Charleston.  The  mother  of  Walter  was 
then  only  seven  years  old,  and  she  distinctly  re- 
collects the  horrors  of  the  scene.  She  was  at  the 
window  and  saw  the  regulars  pass  through  the 
streets  in  which  she  resided  with  her  mother  in 


WALTER   BULLARD.  451 

Boston.  Her  father  stepped  out  of  the  ranks  and 
kissed  her,  at  the  same  time  informing-  her  who  he 
was.  This  was  the  only  time  she  recollected  see- 
ing him,  for  the  women  and  children  were  soon 
afterwards  removed  from  the  city.  Harris  sub- 
sequently died  on  his  way  to  New  York,  after 
which  his  widow  married  again  and  went  to  Eng- 
land. The  mother  of  Walter  remained  at  Boston 
until  her  thirteenth  year,  when  she  went  to  Hollis- 
ton,  with  Asa  Bullard,  the  grandfather  of  Walter, 
and  with  whom  she  lived  until  her  marriage.  She 
is  yet  living,  at  the  age  of  eighty,  still  retaining 
the  industrious  habits  of  her  youth,  and  justly 
respected. 

The  father  of  Walter,  was  a  blacksmith  and 
farmer,  and  by  his  industry  accumulated  a  com- 
petency. Subsequently,  however,  becoming  at  in- 
tervals insane,  through  the  mismanagement  of  those 
entrusted  with  his  affairs,  he  died  poor  in  his 
eighty-first  year. 

Walter  was  one  of  twelve  children,  all  of  whom 
except  one,  reached  maturity.  Five  of  the  boys 
have  had  two  wives  each. 

While  a  boy,  Walter  worked  industriously  on 
the  farm  and  in  the  blacksmith's  shop.  He,  how- 
ever, by  working  too  hard,  suffered  severely  for 
many  years  from  the  hip  complaint.  At  a  very 
early  age  he  exhibited  considerable  talent,  and  was 
always  asking  for  the  why  and  the  wherefore,  before 
he  gave  his  assent.  He  was  a  hard  student  of  the 
Bible.  At  the  age  of  fifteen,  he  engaged  in  the 
shoemaking  business,  in  which  with  very  little 
instruction  he  soon  became  proficient,  earning  $12 
a  month  the  first  year,  besides  his  board.  During 
the  years  he  was  thus  employed,  he  made  great 
accessions  to  his  knowledge.  At  the  age  of  nine- 
teen, having  made  up  his  mind  to  become  a  preacher, 
he  gave  up  shoemaking  and  placed  himself  under 
a  competent  instructor;  and  before  two  years  had 


452  WALTER   BULLARD. 

elapsed,  he  preached  his  first  sermon,  before  a  large 
congregation.  Having,  however,  become  attached 
to  a  young  lady  named  Hannah  Rockwood,  her 
father  refused  to  sanction  the  match  unless  Walter 
should  give  up  all  idea  of  being  a  minister.  He 
desired  his  daughter  to  marry  a  farmer,  so  that  she 
could  remain  at  home  with  him  on  his  farm.  Love 
prevailed,  and  Walter  resumed  his  business  of  a 
shoemaker.  But  alas  for  human  hopes !  in  less  than 
eighteen  months,  his  wife  after  a  dangerous  illness, 
died;  she  and  her  infant  son  were  buried  in  the 
same  grave.  This  was  a  truly  trying  dispensation 
to  the  mourning  surviver,  who  with  a  sad  heart, 
left  the  scene  of  his  troubles  for  Utica,  where  he 
arrived  to  begin  the  world  anew,  with  only  a  dollar 
and  a  half  in  his  possession.  After  many  troubles, 
he  succeeded  in  procuring  a  situation  as  a  teacher. 
In  1828,  he  gave  up  his  school,  and  devoted  his 
whole  time  to  the  ministry.  His  first  engagement 
was  at  Augusta,  Oneida  county,  where  he  boarded 
with  General  David  Custis,  whose  daughter  Emily, 
three  years  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  he 
married.  During  the  first  ten  years  of  this  latter 
marriage,  they  have  had  six  sons,  five  of  whom  are 
yet  living. 

Mr.  Bullard,  since  his  connection  with  the  min- 
istry, has  been  very  actively  engaged  in  the  work, 
besides  contributing  occasionally  to  the  press.  His 
present  residence  is  at  Corning,  Oneida  county,  N. 
Y.  Our  limits  will  not  permit  ns  to  enter  into  the 
details  of  his  eventful  life,  but  they  will  be  referred 
to  on  a  future  occasion. 


ELIPHALET    NOTT.  453 


ELIPHALET  NOTT. 

R.  NOTT  was  born  in  Ashford,  Connecticut, 
June,  1773,  of  poor  parents,  and  an  ordinary 
destiny  seemed  to  await  him.  To  render 
this  probability  a  certainty,  both  his  parents 
died  while  he  was  still  a  boy.  His  mother, 
however,  was  a  woman  of  strong  mind  and 
noble  virtues,  and  she  lived  long  enough  to  leave 
the  impress  of  her  character  on  her  son.  He  had, 
by  inheritance,  her  gifted  intellect. 

Thrown  upon  the  world  at  this  early  age,  he  had 
nothing  but  good  health,  a  resolute  will,  and  a  pair 
of  stout  arms,  on  which  to  rely.  With  vague  and 
indistinct  longings  for  something  better  than  the 
life  before  him,  he  yet  did  not  know  how  to  reach 
it.  It  is  said  that  when  a  mere  boy  he  thirsted  for 
knowledge  with  a  desire  that  could  not  be  quenched ; 
and  at  length,  one  day,  while  laboring  in  the  field, 
as  he  saw  the  physician  of  the  place  riding  by,  his 
resolution  was  instantly  taken,  and,  dropping  his 
hoe,  he  resolved  never  to  be  a  farmer ;  and  going  to 
the  physician,  requested  to  be  received  as  a  student. 
The  good  doctor,  instead  of  ridiculing  the  foolish 
request,  seemed  struck  with  the  boy's  manner  and 
resolution,  and  advised  him  to  return  to  his  friends 
and  endeavor  to  prosecute  his  education. 

Soon  after,  he  went  to  live  with  his  brother,  Rev. 
Samuel  Nott,  pastor  of  the  Congregational  church 
of  Franklin,  Connecticut,  who  still  remains  there, 
nearly  a  hundred  years  old.  Here  he  acquired  some 
knowledge  of  the  Greek  and  Latin,  and  mathe- 
matics. In  the  mean  time  he  taught  a  district 
school  in  the  winter,  in  order  to  obtain  means  for 
his  support.  In  this  way  he  continued  to  progress 
until  about  seventeen  years  of  age,  when  he  took 
charge  of  a  school  in  Plainfield.     Rev.  Joel  Bene- 


454  ELIPHALET    NOTT. 

diet,  D.  D.,  was  pastor  of  the  church  at  that  time — 
a  man  of  great  learning,  ability  and  piety.  He 
taught  in  the  family  of  Mr.  Benedict,  and  the  latter 
thus  became  more  intimately  acquainted  with  him. 
He  saw  in  the  young  teacher  indications  of  great- 
ness, and  he  took  a  deep  interest  in  him ;  and  one 
day  told  him  that  if  he  ever  wanted  assistance  in 
any  project,  to  come  to  him,  and  he  would  furnish 
all  the  aid  in  his  power.  In  process  of  time  the 
young  teacher  fell  in  love  with  one  of  his  daughters, 
and  he  was  not  a  man  to  sue  in  vain.  The  attach- 
ment was  mutual,  and  so  one  day  young  Nott  went 
to  Dr.  Benedict,  and  reminded  him  of  his  offer  to 
help  him  when  he  needed  aid.  The  good  old  gen- 
tleman acknowledged  the  promise,  and  asked  what 
he  could  do  for  him.  "  1  want  you,"  he  replied, 
"  to  help  me  get  your  daughter  for  a  wife."  The 
doctor  was  taken  all  aback,  but  clearing  his  throat 
with  a  "hem,"  said,  "Well,  well,  take  her,  take 
her."  Under  his  future  father-in-law's  tuition  he 
progressed  rapidly  in  his  studies,  and  when  but 
nineteen  years  of  age  received  the  first  degree  in 
the  arts,  from  Brown  university,  Rhode  Island. 

Young  Nott  then  turned  his  attention  to  the 
ministry,  and  studied  and  taught  at  the  same  time, 
thus  supporting  himself  by  his  labors.  Two  years 
after  he  was  licensed  to  preach,  and  very  soon  mar- 
ried Miss  Benedict.  At  that  time  a  youth  of  twenty- 
two  was  very  young  to  be  a  licensed  clergyman, 
but  Mr.  Nott's  means  did  not  allow  him  to  postpone 
the  day  of  entering  upon  active  service. 

He,  however,  labored  a  year  as  a  missionary — an 
excellent  preparation  for  the  pastoral  duties — and 
then  settled  in  Cherry  Valley,  in  the  double  relation 
of  pastor  and  principal  of  the  academy.  The  latter 
was  the  most  profitable  of  the  two,  for  he  soon  drew 
a  large  school  about  him.  He  remained  here  but 
two  years,  however,  for  his  eloquence  and  earnest- 
ness and  success  soon  made  him  widely  popular, 


LUTHER   BRADISH.  455 

and  in  1798  he  was  called  to  take  charge  of  the 
Presbyterian  church  of  Albany.  Here  he  remained 
six  years,  drawing  to  his  church  a  large  and  delight- 
ed audience,  and  affecting  all  hearts  by  his  appeals. 
His  star  was  now  in  the  ascendant,  and  he  ranked 
among  his  personal  friends  the  first  men  of  the  state. 
His  celebrated  sermon  on  the  death  of  Hamilton 
was  delivered  near  the  close  of  his  ministerial 
labors.  Being  elected  president  of  Union  college, 
he  accepted;  and,  from  that  time  on,  his  history 
has  been  identified  with  the  institution  whose  in- 
terests he  has  managed. 


LUTHER  BRADISH. 

F  all  those  who  have  occupied  high  public 
stations  in  the  gift  of  the  whig  party  in  this 
state,  during  the  last  fifteen  years,  no  man 
'stands  higher,  or  more  deservedly  so,  than  Lu- 
ther Bradish.  A  gentleman  and  a  Christian,  in 
the  highest  and  best  sense  of  the  term — a  scholar, 
a  statesman,  and  a  man  of  extensive  and  varied 
attainments  in  almost  every  department  of  know- 
ledge— of  the  utmost  dignity  and  urbanity  of  man- 
ner, and  of  a  heart  ever  open  and  susceptible  to  the 
noblest  impulses,  he  is  in  truth  one  of  whom  any 
community  might  be  proud  to  claim.  Luther 
Bradish  was  born  amid  the  Hampshire  hills  in  the 
glorious  old  commonwealth  of  Massachusetts — of 
a  parentage  poor,  though  respectable.  His  early 
manhood  was  devoted  to  the  profession  of  a  teacher 
of  youth  in  Buffalo,  during  the  war,  and  afterwards 
in  Jamaica,  on  Long  Island.  He  was  married  in 
Boston,  in  1815,  to  a  daughter  of  the  late  Colonel 
Gibbs,  formerly  of  Newport,  Rhode  Island — a  man 
of  wealth  and  of  the  highest  standing  in  society. 


456  LUTHER    BRADISH. 

On  the  death  of  Mrs.  Bradish,  which  occurred  not 
many  years  after  her  marriage,  Mr.  Bradish  made 
the  tour  of  Europe,  and  penetrated  as  far  eastward 
as  Russia;  residing  at  St.  Petersburgh  for  several 
months,  and  becoming  intimate  in  the  highest  cir- 
cles of  that  splendid  metropolis.  The  winter  of 
1824  he  spent  in  Paris,  where  his  elegant  manners 
and  great  accomplishments  were  fully  appreciated 
by  the  French  and  foreign  residents  of  that  centre 
of  European  civilization. 

On  his  return  to  America,  after  an  absence  of 
seven  years,  Mr.  Bradish  became  a  resident  of 
Franklin  county,  where  he  held  large  tracts  of  unim- 
proved land.  From  this  county  he  was  elected  to 
the  assembly  in  the  year  1836,  and  again  in  1837. 
The  latter  year  the  whigs  having  a  majority  in  the 
assembly,  elected  him  speaker  of  that  body;  the 
duties  of  which  office  he  discharged  in  the  most 
admirable  manner. 

In  the  year  1838,  Mr.  Bradish  was  elected  lieu- 
tenant-governor of  the  state,  and  again  in  1840 — 
leading  Governor  Seward,  who  was  on  the  same 
ticket  with  himself,  some  fifteen  hundred  votes  in 
the  latter  year.  As  presiding  officer  of  the  senate, 
Governor  Bradish  may  be  pronounced,  without  fear 
of  contradiction,  facile  princeps  of  all  his  predeces- 
sors and  successors  up  to  the  present  time.  His 
dignity  and  firmness,  combined  with  the  utmost 
courtesy  and  urbanity  of  manner  towards  every 
member  of  the  senate,  can  never  be  forgotten  by 
those  who  attended  the  sessions  of  that  branch  of 
the  legislature  from  1839  to  1842. 

Since  his  retirement  from  public  life,  Governor 
Bradish  has  resided,  in  the  winter,  in  New  York, 
and  in  the  summer,  in  Westchester. — Albany  Ex- 
press. 


JAMES   S.    LIBBY.  457 


JAMES  SMITH  LIBBY. 

'IS  grand-parents,  paternal  and  maternal, 
served  their  country  during  the  war  of  the 
1^  revolution,  and  were  distinguished  for  their 
worth  and  patriotism.  At  the  close  of  the  strug- 
gle, they  resumed  their  original  occupation  as 
farmers,  and  remained  in  its  successful  prosecu- 
tion till  they  were  called  to  another,  and  a  better 
world. 

Jacob  Libby,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  our  no- 
tice, was  born  in  the  state  of  Maine,  but  at  an  early 
age  he  removed  to  Strafford  county,  New  Hamp- 
shire, which  was  then  a  complete  wilderness.  To 
his  industry  and  perseverance,  the  wilderness  gave 
way  to  productive  fields;  and,  one  of  the  finest 
farms  in  New  England  remains  an  evidence  of  his 
success.  He  was  widely  and  favorably  known 
among  his  fellow  citizens,  and  was  honored  with 
many  public  trusts.  In  his  political  opinions,  he  was 
a  democrat,  having  early  espoused  the  principles  of 
Jefferson,  and  was  a  warm  supporter  of  Andrew 
Jackson.  He  had  ten  children,  six  of  whom  are 
still  living.  Three  remain  around  the  old  home- 
stead, and  three  reside  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

James  S.  Libby  is  the  fourth  son.  He  was  born  in 
the  town  of  Tuftonborough,  county  of  Stratford,  and 
state  of  New  Hampshire,  on  the  2d  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1805.  The  first  fifteen  years  of  his  life  were 
spent  at  home.  His  education  was  limited,  he 
having  only  enjoyed  the  advantages  of  a  few  months 
schooling  in  the  year.  He  inherited  a  robust  con- 
stitution, habits  of  industry  and  prudence ;  and,  at 
the  age  of  fifteen,  commenced  an  apprenticeship  as 
a  hatter, 

Before  arriving  at  the  age  of  twenty-one,  he  pur- 
chased his  time  of  his  employer,  from  the  earnings 
58 


458  JAMES   S.    LIBBY. 

of  his  extra  hours.  In  the  twentieth  year  of  his 
age,  he  entered  the  employ  of  Colonel  Benjamin 
Edmunds,  of  Plymouth,  New  Hampshire,  a  gentle- 
man of  the  highest  standing  and  respect.  In  the 
following  year  he  was  married  to  Miss  Lydia  Ed- 
munds, sister  to  the  above  named  gentleman.  In 
1830,  he  commenced  business  at  Sandwich,  New 
Hampshire,  in  company  with  the  Honorable  Daniel 
Hoit,  a  gentleman  who  has  been  ever  remembered 
with  the  greatest  regard. 

Subsequently,  he  removed  to  Shipton,  Lower 
Canada,  where  he  prosecuted  his  usual  business 
with  much  success.  Those  traits  of  character  which 
have  ever  attracted  to  him  hosts  of  friends,  secured 
to  him  the  respect  and  good  will  of  his  fellow 
citizens.  He  was  offered  the  clerkship  of  the  com- 
missioners' court,  and  other  public  offices  of  emolu- 
ment and  honor. 

In  1835,  he  left  Canada  with  his  family  and  ef- 
fects, with  the  intention  of  locating  himself  in  the 
state  of  Illinois.  On  his  arrival,  however,  in  the 
city  of  New  York,  he  concluded  to  remain  there. 
He  accordingly  purchased  a  house  in  Barclay  street, 
and  very  soon  acquired  the  respect  and  confidence 
of  a  large  number  of  citizens. 

In  1845,  Mr.  Libby  lost  his  amiable  wife.  He 
subsequently  married  Miss  Moore. 

Having  been  elected  by  a  large  majority,  a  mem- 
ber of  the  common  council,  he  has,  while  in  that 
body,  distinguished  himself  by  his  firmness  and 
zeal,  whilst  prosecuting  the  best  interests  of  the 
city.  He  has  had  the  good  fortune  to  merit  and 
secure  a  degree  of  popular  favor  that  does  not  fall 
to  the  lot  of  many  individuals. 

Among  the  leading  traits  in  the  character  of  Mr. 
Libby,  may  be  mentioned  an  untiring  energy;  in- 
domitable perseverance  ;  a  physical  force  and  power 
capable  of  performing  great  labor;  great  intelli- 
gence, a  rapid,  clear  perception,  which  enables  him 


MILLARD   FILLMORE.  459 

to  grasp  almost  any  subject  at  the  instant;  and  a 
regard  for  integrity  and  truth,  which  no  temptation 
could  allure,  and  no  artifice  of  vice  betray.  And, 
it  may  be  added,  that,  throughout  his  whole  life, 
neither  friend  nor  foe  has  been  able  to  say  that  he 
has  not  maintained  his  word.  He  is  a  man  of  active 
benevolence;  and,  although  without  pretension, 
the  unfortunate  have  ever  found  in  him  a  friend. 
In  all  the  private  and  domestic  relations  of  life,  he 
is  kind  and  affectionate ;  and  the  best  commentary 
that  has  been  extended  to  the  purity  of  his  life  and 
action,  consists  in  the  fact,  that  the  man  does  not 
live,  who  can  justly  say  that  he  ever  provoked  his 
ill-will. 

After  many  hard  struggles  with  the  obstacles  that 
ingenuous  merit  is  always  sure  to  encounter,  in  a 
world  like  this,  he  is  now  able  to  enjoy  the  conscious 
assurance  that  he  has  surmounted  them  all,  by  his 
own  individual  efforts;  and,  although  now  in  the 
meridian  of  life  only,  he  is  possessed  of  enough  of 
the  world's  riches,  and  the  good  opinion  of  his  con- 
stituents, to  gratify  a  rational  and  reasonable  am- 
bition. 


MILLARD  FILLMORE. 

7T  is  a  remarkable  fact,  and  one  of  which 
'  the  country  may  be  proud,  that  some  of  our 
most  eminent  public  men  have  commenced 
/their  career  in  poverty,  and  have  in  youth  sup- 
ported  themselves  by  the  sweat  of  their  brow. 
In  no  country  in  the  world  has  real  merit  such 
a  fair  chance  as  in  our  own.  Mr.  Fillmore,  in  his 
early  days,  earned  his  living  by  carding  wool,  and 
little  dreamed,  perhaps,  that  he  would  one  day  be 
vice-president  of  the  United  States. 


460  MILLARD    FILLMORE. 

Millard  Fillmore  is  a  native  of  the  state  of  New 
York.     He  was  born  in  Cayuga  county,  at  Summer 
Hill,  on  the  7th  day  of  January,  1800.     His  father, 
Nathaniel  Fillmore,  was  born  in  Burlington,  Ver- 
mont, in  1971;  he  immigrated  in  early  life  to  the 
western  part  of  New  York,  then  a  wilderness,  and 
in  1819,  purchased  a  farm  in  Erie  county,  which  he 
still  cultivates.    The  educational  advantages  enjoyed 
by  young  Fillmore  were  very  slender ;  the  Bible  and 
such   books   as   were  used   in   the   very   common 
schools  then  existing,  were  the  limits  of  his  literary 
pursuits  until  the  age  of  fifteen,  when  he  was  ap- 
prenticed to  the  wool-carding  business  in  Livingston 
county.     He  was  afterward  placed  with  a  person  in 
the  same  business  in  the  town  where  his  father  re- 
sided, and  passed  four  years  at  the  trade,  devouring, 
in  the  meanwhile,  the  contents  of  a  small  village 
library.     At  the  age  of  nineteen,  fortune  threw  in 
his  way  a  benevolent  man,  who  had  the  penetration 
to  discover  the  youth's  good  parts,  and  the  kindness 
to  place  him  in  a  position  to  cultivate  them.     This 
gentleman   was  the   later  Walter  Wood — a   man 
whose  name  should  be  held  in  reverence  by  all  who 
have  known  what  it  is  to  struggle  with  adversary 
and  gather  knowledge  in  the  thorn-beset  wayside 
of  early  poverty.     Judge  Wood,  for  this  benevolent 
gentleman  was  a  lawyer,  possessed  a  good  library 
and  handsome  fortune.     He  prevailed  upon  young 
Fillmore  to  quit  the  trade  of  wool-carding  and  to 
take  to  the  study  of  law,  that  being  looked  upon  as 
the  only  profession  which  can  qualify  a  man  for 
high  station.     A  sad  fact,  but  one  that  can  not  be 
denied.     The  clothier's  apprentice    purchased  the 
remainder  of  his  time,  and  studied  law  and  survey- 
ing in  the   office   of  his  benefactor  until  he  was 
twenty-one.     During  this  time  he  partly  supported 
himself  by  teaching  school.     In  1821  he  removed 
to  Erie  county,  and  entered  a  lawyer's  office  in  Buf- 
falo, where  he  pursued  his  legal  studies  and  taught 


MILLARD    FILLMORE.  461 

a  school  for  his  support,  until  1823;  when  he  was 
admitted  to  practice  in  the  court  of  common  pleas. 
From  this  time  his  course  has  been  onward.  He 
first  commenced  practicing  in  his  profession  in  the 
village  of  Aurora,  in  Cayuga  county,  hut  returned 
to  Buffalo,  where  he  still  resides.  In  1829  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  state  legislature,  and  was 
reelected  the  two  succeeding  years.  It  was  during 
his  membership  in  the  state  legislature  that  the  laws 
for  the  imprisonment  for  debt  were  partially  abolish- 
ed ;  and  it  was  in  a  great  degree  owing  to  the  activity, 
eloquence  and  indefatigable  zeal  with  which  he 
advocated  the  removal  of  these  villainous  relics  of 
an  age  of  superstition  and  weakness,  that  the  friends 
of  humanity  succeeded  in  partially  wiping  the  foul 
blot  from  our  still  sufficiently  barbarous  code  of 
laws.  A  person  reared  in  the  manner  Millard  Fill- 
more has  been  could  have  no  sympathy  with  that 
which  made  poverty  a  crime. 

In  1832,  Mr.  Fillmore  was  elected  to  congress, 
and  in  1839,  when  he  distinguished  himself  by  his 
report  on  the  New  Jersey  election  case.  He  was 
reelected  to  the  next  congress  by  a  largely  increased 
majority,  and  was  placed  at  the  head  of  the  com- 
mittee of  ways  and  means,  in  which  post  he  gained 
great  distinction  by  his  energy,  aptness  and  indus- 
try. At  the  close  of  this  congress  he  declined  a 
reelection,  and  resumed  the  practice  of  his  profes- 
sion at  the  bar  of  his  native  state.  In  the  year 
1844  he  was  nominated  by  the  whigs  for  governor  of 
the  state  in  opposition  to  Silas  Wright,  but  was  un- 
successful. In  1847,  he  was  elected  comptroller  of 
the  state  of  New  York,  and  has  filled  the  office 
with  honor  to  himself  and  profit  to  the  people.  He 
resigned  the  office  of  comptroller  on  the  20th  of 
February,  1849,  preparatory  to  assuming  the  duties 
of  vice-president  of  the  United  States,  to  which 
high  station  he  had  been  elected  on  the  November 
previous. 


462  WOOSTER  BEACH. 


WOOSTER   BEACH. 

j LT HOUGH  the  means  of  his  parents  were 
R  limited,  they  managed  to  give  him  a  good 
jf^and  liberal  education.  He  was  born  in 
Trumbull,  Fairfield  county,  Connecticut.  At 
twelve  years  of  age  he  became  in  a  very  un- 
expected and  remarkable  manner,  convinced 
that  the  human  family  were  suffering  under  the 
most  serious  abuses  and  injuries  inflicted  by  the 
popular  practice  of  medicine  in  its  various  branches. 
These  sentiments,  which  seemed  to  rise  spontane- 
ously in  his  mind,  made  the  most  serious  and  last- 
ing impressions,  which  have  ever  since  influenced 
his  line  of  conduct,  and  in  consequence  of  which  he 
was  led  to  adopt  the  advice  of  the  poet: 

Search  well  thy  genius,  every  bent  survey, 
And  where  she  prompts,  be  ready  to  obey. 

He  therefore  chose  the  medical  profession,  in  pre- 
ference to  any  other  employment.  He  could,  how- 
ever, by  no  means  follow  the  beaten  track  in  medi- 
cal science,  but  resolved  to  strike  out  a  new  path, 
and  thus  labor  to  bring  about  a  reformation,  and  if 
possible,  to  rescue  his  fellow  men  from  the  great 
abuses  and  evils,  which  in  all  directions,  appeared 
to  him  to  be  so  conspicuous  and  self-evident.  The 
greatest  satisfaction  which  he  experienced,  was  the 
prospect  of  ameliorating  the  sufferings  of  mankind; 
but  how  to  accomplish  that  object  he  could  not  per- 
ceive. He  expected  to  make  great  sacrifices,  receive 
much  reproach,  opposition  and  persecution,  from 
the  selfish  and  the  bigoted.  The  question  was  not 
what  is  popular,  or  what  profession  will  bring  the 
most  money;  but  what  is  right,  and  most  con- 
ducive to  the  benefit  of  others?  He  felt  it  thus  a 
duty,  to  make  every  possible  effort  to  accomplish 
his  object.     He  saw  the  deplorable  condition  of  the 


WOOSTER  BEACH.  463 

healing  art,  but  could  not  see  what  course  he  could 
pursue  to  remedy  it.  The  very  thought  of  studying 
in  the  old  orthodox  school  of  medicine  was  revolt- 
ing. On  one  occasion,  at  a  very  early  age,  his  views 
were  corroborated  by  a  case  which  occurred  near 
his  father's  residence.  A  person  had  been  laboring 
under  some  chronic  disease,  for  which  the  physician 
had  administered  large  quantities  of  mercury,  which 
had  ruined  the  man's  health,  and  affected  one  of 
the  joints  of  the  lower  extremities.  For  this  an  am- 
putation was  performed,  and  proved  fatal.  Although 
a  lad,  Wooster  walked  the  distance  of  three  miles 
to  suggest  a  different  treatment,  but  his  efforts  were 
of  no  avail.  Another  of  his  neighbors  took  large 
quantities  of  mercury,  which  so  thoroughly  filled 
the  system  that  he  was  rendered  a  cripple  and 
walked  on  crutches  with  difficulty.  A  knowledge 
of  these  facts,  served  to  confirm  the  sentiments  he 
had  so  early  imbibed,  and  urged  him  on  in  the 
course  he  had  premeditated. 

It  was  at  this  period,  when  he  was  anxiously  de- 
sirous of  acquiring  new  truths  and  new  principles 
in  medicine,  which  should  subvert  the  popular  prac- 
tice, and  thus  bring  about  a  reformation,  that  he 
heard  through  a  relative  who  had  derived  great 
benefit  from  his  practiee,  of  a  celebrated  physician 
in  the  state  of  New  Jersey,  by  the  name  of  Tidd, 
and  who  pursued  an  improved  method  of  treating 
many  diseases.  But  the  father  of  young  Beach 
having  a  large  family,  he  found  it  necessary  to  en- 
gage in  some  employment  to  gain  a  livelihood.  He 
accordingly  commenced  teaching  a  school,  about 
twenty  miles  from  the  residence  of  Dr.  Tidd,  from 
whence  soon  after,  he  paid  him  a  visit.  He  found 
that  the  doctor  had  practiced  nearly  half  a  century, 
and  was  known  extensively,  and  had  treated,  suc- 
cessfully, some  of  the  most  difficult  diseases,  gene- 
rally abandoned  as  incurable  by  the  medical  pro- 
fession.    His  treatment,   however,  was  confined  to 


464  WOOSTER  BEACH. 

a  few  surgical  diseases,  such  as  fistula,  cancer,  white 
swelling,  scrofula,  ulcers,  &c,  in  which  he  entirely 
excelled  all  other  surgeons.     Wooster,  therefore,  be- 
came extremely  anxious  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of 
his  practice,  believing  that  it  would  at  least  lay  the 
foundation  of  a  reformation,   and  applied  to  him, 
wishing  to  be  received  as  a  student.     But  objections 
were  urged.     However,  after  the  absence  of  a  num- 
ber  of  years,    during  which   time   his  mind  was 
altogether  absorbed  with  the  subject,  he  again  ap- 
plied to  Tidd,   and  circumstances  were  then  such 
that  he  consented  to  receive  the  applicant  as  a  stu- 
dent.    He  thus  commenced  the  study  of  the  heal- 
ing art,  not  by  books,  lectures,  recitations  or  dissec- 
tions, but  by  clinical  practice  in  the  great  book  of 
nature.     They  visited  patients  together,  and  he  thus 
learned  their  symptoms  and   mode  of  treatment. 
Dr.  Tidd  was  a  man  of  no  education,  but  of  great 
natural  talents,  and  his  knowledge  was  obtained  at 
the   bed  side  of  the   sick.     The   information   that 
Wooster  acquired  from  him,  although  limited,  laid 
the  foundation  for  his  future  success  in  practice. 
Sometime  afterwards,  Dr.  Tidd  died,  aged  seventy- 
five.     After  having  succeeded  him  in  practice  for  a 
short  period,  Dr.  Beach  removed  to  the  city  of  New 
York,    where   the   prospect    for   practice   was   en- 
couraging, and  the  facilities  for  carrying  out  medical 
reform  very  great.     On  his  arrival  in  the  city,  he 
commenced  attending  lectures  in  the  Barclay  street 
medical  college,  under  Drs.  Post,  Hosack,  McNevin, 
Francis ;  Dr.  Bavid  being  then  president  of  the  col- 
lege.    During  the  time  he  was  attending  lectures, 
he  was  also  engaged  in  practice,  which  furnished 
him  with  means  to  defray  his  expenses.     His  prac- 
tice increased  and  was  successful.     And  now  having 
become   acquainted  with   the   common  system  of 
medicine,  and  obtained  a  legal  diploma  to  practice, 
he  found  it  had  a  tendency  to  remove  prejudice 
from  the  minds  of  the  people,  and  inspire  confi- 


WOOSTER  BEACH.  465 

dence.  Just  in  proportion  to  his  success,  however, 
was  the  opposition  of  some  physicians  excited 
against  him,  and  he  had  to  encounter  great  persecu- 
tion from  the  selfish  and  illiberal  portion  of  the 
faculty.  But  the  merit  and  importance  of  the  prac- 
tice, soon  became  extensively  known  and  appre- 
ciated, in  consequence  of  the  numerous  cures  daily 
wrought.  From  his  extensive  practice  he  had  an 
excellent  opportunity  of  testing  his  own  principles 
and  demonstrating  their  superiority  over  the  old 
system.  His  own  mind  was  fully  convinced  of  its 
superiority  over  the  mineral  and  depletive  system. 
He  therefore  reflected  very  deeply  on  the  best  means 
of  promulgating  it,  and  concluded  to  make  a  bold 
movement  for  this  purpose.  He  now  published  a 
work  called  the  Medical  Reformer,  with  a  view  to 
enlighten  the  public,  and  subsequently  the  Medical 
Almanac.  He  also  commenced  a  weekly  periodical 
which  had  a  very  extensive  circulation,  in  which 
his  object  was  to  expose  and  correct  various  abuses 
in  morals,  religion  and  medicine.  He  gave  many 
strictures  on  long  standing  abuses  on  religious  and 
medical  subjects,  which  were  well  received  and 
applauded  by  the  more  liberal  part  of  the  com- 
munity. Such  was  the  consciousness  of  Dr.  Beach 
of  the  utility  and  importance  of  the  cause,  that  no- 
thing moved  or  discouraged  him.  Perseverance 
was  his  motto.  At  this  period  of  his  career,  he 
deemed  it  advisable  to  establish  an  infirmary,  where 
the  public,  and  especially  the  poor,  would  have  an 
opportunity  of  receiving  the  benefit  of  advice  and 
medicine.  He  therefore  built  a  house  for  that  pur- 
pose, and  opened  it  for  the  reception  of  patients, 
where  he  attended  over  two  thousand  cases  the  first 
year,  of  different  diseases;  thus  affording  a  still 
greater  opportunity  of  acquiring  experience.  Next 
in  order  still  farther  to  extend  the  knowledge  of 
these  improvements  and  discoveries,  he  erected  a 
much  larger  building  for  a  medical  school,  which 
59 


466  WOOSTER  BEACH. 

was  called  the  New  York  medical  academy.  Cir- 
culars were  published  throughout  the  Union,  an- 
nouning  the  institution,  its  principles,  &c,  and  in- 
viting students  to  attend  it;  also  offering  to  teach 
such  as  were  indigent,  at  a  nominal  price.  He 
lectured  himself  and  took  a  general  superintendence 
of  the  school,  employing  two  or  three  other  physi- 
cians to  assist  him.  Many  resorted  to  this  school 
for  instruction  from  all  parts,  most  of  whom  were 
unable  to  pay  for  their  instruction.  Students  were 
taught  by  lectures,  examinations  and  clinical  prac- 
tice. They  also  had  an  opportunity  of  visiting  pa- 
tients at  their  residences,  and  at  the  infirmary;  and 
in  fact,  it  is  claimed,  acquired  more  knowledge  of 
the  healing  art  in  a  few  months  than  is  usually  gained 
in  years,  by  the  old  method  of  teaching.  Some  old 
school  physicians,  as  well  as  students,  came  many 
hundred  miles  to  attend  the  lectures ;  and  notwith- 
standing the  great  difficulty  of  establishing  an  op- 
position school,  the  seeds  of  medical  reform  were 
sown  there,  which  subsequently  spread  in  many 
sections  of  the  country,  and  not  only  furnished  many 
well  educated  physicians,  but  led  to  the  establish- 
ment of  other  schools,  of  a  similar  character.  During 
the  continuance  of  the  school,  Dr.  Beach  established 
a  daily  paper,  called  the  Evening  Journal,  the  first 
small  daily  paper  published  in  the  city  of  New  York. 
In  this  he  still  continued  to  disseminate  his  reformed 
principles,  which  with  other  advantages,  seemed  to 
silence  the  opposition. 

At  this  time,  the  trustees  of  a  chartered  institution 
at  Worthington,  in  Ohio,  sent  a  letter  requesting 
the  reformed  college  to  establish  a  branch  of  their 
school  in  that  town,  situated  near  Columbus,  the 
capital  of  the  state.  Dr.  Beach  therefore  made  a 
contract  with  Drs.  Morrow,  of  Kentucky,  Steele,  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  Jones,  of  Maine,  to  go  there  and 
organize  the  school,  which  they  did.  They  were  to 
conduct  it  in  the  same  manner,  as  the  parent  in- 


WOOSTER  BEACH.  467 

stitution,  but  subsequently  they  concluded  to  issue 
their  own  diplomas,  and  conduct  it  independently, 
which  led  to  great   difficulties.     Yet  the  school  at 
Worthington  furnished  many  well  educated  phy- 
sicians, who  have  been  located  in  different  parts  of 
the   country,    and   follow   the   same  practice,  and 
wherever  they  went,  they  were  well  received  by  the 
community,  giving  great  satisfaction  to  their  pa- 
tients.    Dr.  Beach  and  his  associates  subsequently 
encountered  unexpected  and  extraordinary  difficul- 
ties in  conducting  their  school.     Trouble  of  a  per- 
sonal character,  arising  from  persecution  and  dis- 
honesty of  men  in  whom   he   trusted,  caused  Dr. 
Beach  poignant  sufferings;  and  while  he   was  by 
every   movement  trying  to  benefit  others,  he  was 
made  a  victim  to  the  most  base  and  iniquitous  con- 
duct of  those  who  were  professedly  friendly.    During 
his  labors  in  New  York,  the  cholera  commenced  in 
the  city,  in   1832,  when  he  was  appointed  by  the 
common  council  to  attend  the  sick  in  a  certain  part 
of  the  city.     The  influence  of  the  infectious  air  re- 
sulting from  it,  operating  on  a  constitution  enfeebled 
by  excessive  labor,  prostrated  both  his  mental  and 
physical  organization,  and  he  underwent  long  pro- 
tracted exercises  and  distress,  in   mind,  body  and 
estate,  from  which  the  system   never  has,   and  pro- 
bably never  will,  fully  recover.     He  provided  for  all 
the  students,  who  were  boarded  and  lodged  in  the 
building  erected  for  the  school;  lectured  daily  to 
the  students,  gave  advice  and  medicine  at  the  in- 
firmary,   superintended    the    pharmacutal   prepar- 
tions;  attended  the  out-door  patients  by  day  and  by 
night;    furnished  matter  for   a  weekly  and  daily 
paper;  answered  numerous  letters,  and  a  portion  of 
the  time  prepared  materials  for  his  medical  work, 
thus  performing  the  labor  of  five  or  six  men.    There- 
fore,   from   these   combined   causes,    much  to  the 
triumph  of  his  enemies,  he  was  obliged  to  abandon 
the  school.  When  the  building  was  unjustly  wrested 


468  WOOSTER  BEACH. 

from  him  he  involuntarily  predicted  to  the  agent 
that  some  curse  would  fall  upon  that  house,  which 
in  a  short  time  came  to  pass.  One  night  the  doctor 
heard  the  cry  of  fire ;  an  impression  came  to  his 
mind  that  it  was  that  building,  and  that  it  was  not 
insured.  He  rose  from  his  bed,  visited  the  spot,  and 
found  the  large  and  beautiful  edifice  in  flames.  The 
next  day  he  saw  the  agent,  who  said  that  as  soon 
as  he  heard  of  it,  the  prediction  came  to  his  mind. 
The  doctor  then  asked  him  if  it  was  insured ;  with 
some  hesitation  he  replied,"  No."  From  the  history 
of  the  whole,  it  would  appear  to  be  a  righteous 
judgment;  and  this  opinion  the  doctor  subsequently 
communicated  to  the  owner,  which  caused  in  him 
great  emotion.  In  this  state  of  things  the  prospects 
of  the  school  had  all  fallen.  Such  was  the  embar- 
rassed state  of  his  affairs  that  he  was  obliged  to 
remove  with  his  family  into  the  country.  Under 
these  circumstances  he  commenced  preparing  ma- 
terials for  a  new  work,  called  the  American  Prac- 
tice in  three  volumes,  giving  the  principles  and  im- 
provements of  the  system.  Here,  again,  he  had  to 
encounter  extraordinary  difficulties  in  completing 
it.  He  found  it  necessary  to  make  the  work  much 
larger  than  he  had  contemplated ;  the  printer  agreed 
to  give  him  a  credit  which  subsequently  he  could 
not,  or  would  not  do;  and  after  publishing  one 
volume,  he  retained  the  sheets.  Again,  an  action 
in  law  was  commenced  against  the  doctor,  and  he 
became  so  much  embarrassed  that  he  was  obliged 
to  suspend  the  publication  of  the  work.  At  this 
time  a  firm,  to  whom  the  circumstances  were 
communicated,  advanced  money,  and  thus  enabled 
him  to  complete  it  and  cancel  all  the  debts.  The 
work  being  very  voluminous,  had  a  slow  sale. 
About  this  time  a  learned  and  distinguished  physi- 
cian became  a  great  advocate  for  it;  forwarded 
copies  to  the  different  potentates  of  Europe,  who 
had  it  examined  and  reviewed  by  their  physician  s 


W00STER  BEACH.  469 

and  sent  letters  of  recommendation  back,  and  as 
visible  testimonials  of  the  value  they  attached  to  it, 
also  sent  splendid  gold  medals,  from  the  kings  of 
France,  Wurtemburgh,  England,  Saxony,  Prussia, 
Tuscany,  Russia,  &c.  With  these  medals  were  sent 
diplomas  from  the  most  distinguished  medical  and 
scientific  societies.  Subsequently  a  wealthy  gen- 
tleman by  the  name  of  Turpin,  a  great  friend  to  the 
cause  of  medical  reform,  left  a  legacy  of  five  hun- 
dred dollars.  It  was  of  great  service  at  this  par- 
ticular juncture,  thus  affording  an  interesting  con- 
trast to  the  sordid  and  selfish  conduct  of  others. 
When  the  second  edition  of  this  work  was  nearly 
exhausted,  Dr.  Beach  published  an  abridgment  of 
the  American  Practice,  called  the  Family  Physician, 
which  has  been  circulated  very  extensively,  having 
passed  through  fifteen  editions.  The  object  of  this 
has  been  to  disseminate  correct  views  in  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine,  among  the  people  at  large,  as  well 
as  students  and  practitioners  in  general. 

In  consequence  of  indiscretion  on  the  part  of  the 
professor  in  the  school  at  Worthington,  Ohio,  rela- 
tive to  dissection,  it  became  necessary  to  remove 
the  institution  to  Cincinnati.  A  small  school  was 
opened  there,  consisting  of  only  four  or  five  students, 
in  an  obscure  place,  named  by  the  opposition  "  a 
hay  loft."  It  gradually  increased  until  the  number 
became  respectable.  Dr.  T.  V.  Morrow,  who  was 
most  indefatigable  and  persevering  in  promoting  the 
cause,  was  the  principal  person  in  the  establish- 
ment of  it.  But  the  same  difficulties  existed  here 
to  prevent  its  prosperity,  as  did  in  New  York,  par- 
ticularly as  related  to  a  charter.  A  petition  was 
therefore  forwarded  to  the  legislature  desiring  them 
to  grant  a  charter  for  a  reformed' school  of  medicine. 
Col.  Kilboume,  a  distinguished  and  talented  gentle- 
man, who  had  seen  much  of  the  beneficial  effects 
of  the  reformed  practice,  while  trustee  in  the  Wor- 
thington school,  volunteered  his  services  to  attend 


470  WOOSTER  BEACH. 

the  whole  session  of  the  legislature  and  use  his  in- 
fluence in  obtaining  a  charter.  The  petition  was 
laid  before  the  assembly,  and  the  whole  matter  re- 
ferred to  a  committee,  before  whom  the  history  and 
importance  of  the  new  practice  were  laid.  The 
committee  made  a  favorable  report,  and  the  ques- 
tion of  granting  a  charter  was  discussed.  The  bill 
passed  almost  unanimously.  The  charter  was  there- 
fore granted,  which  unlike  all  others,  is  perpetual 
and  permanent. 

From  this  epoch  the  school  received  a  new  im- 
petus, and  has  increased  with  a  rapidity  hitherto 
unknown  in  any  school  in  America,  the  number  of 
.students  having  doubled  every  year  since  the  char- 
ter was  obtained.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
appointed  professor  of  clinical  practice,  and  has 
hitherto  delivered  lectures  in  the  institution,  except 
the  last  year,  being  absent  on  a  visit  to  Europe.  A 
commodious  building  has  been  erected  for  the  col- 
lege, which  is  now  endowed  with  seven  professors, 
o-iving  advantages  for  medical  instruction,  not  sur- 
passed by  any  other  institution  in  America.  For 
the  benefit  of  this  school  and  others,  he  has  since 
published  a  treatise  on  midwifery,  one  on  physiology 
and  a  botanical  dictionary,  as  text  books.  Realizing 
the  importance  of  still  further  informing  the  public 
mind  on  the  subject  of  medical  reform,  he  imported 
from  Paris,  several  anatomical  models  of  the  human 
system,  and  delivered  popular  lectures  in  different 
sections  of  the  country,  in  Boston,  New  York,  Phi- 
ladelphia, Baltimore,  Pittsburgh  and  Cincinnati. 
He  has  employed  some  persons  to  assist  him  in 
practice,  who  at  first  held  out  great  inducements 
and  fair  promises,  but  he  soon  found  that  all  their 
professions  were  selfish  and  deceitful,  which  entailed 
additional  embarrassment  and  suffering. 

Believing  that  a  dissemination  of  correct  physio- 
logical knowledge  was  necessary  among  the  people, 
he°  commenced  the  establishment  of  an  anatomical 


WOOSTER  BEACH.  471 

museum,  where  the  public  might  learn  the  mechan- 
ism of  their  own  forms,  and  the  laws  which  govern 
them.  To  this  end  he  employed  an  artist  to  ex- 
ecute models  in  wax,  and  imported  a  vast  number 
from  Europe,  all  of  which  constituted  one  of  the 
finest  museums  of  the  kind  in  the  country.  Another 
object  which  he  had  in  view  was  to  prevent  the  re- 
volting practice  of  dissections,  which  not  only  en- 
dangers the  life  of  the  student  but  causes  great 
mental  anguish  in  the  minds  of  friends. 

His  large  work  in  three  volumes  being  now  out 
of  print,  and  there  becoming  a  demand  for  the  same, 
Dr.  Beach  concluded  to  revise  it  and  obtain  all  the 
improvements  and  new  remedies  available.  Sup- 
posing he  might  gain  much  useful  information 
abroad  for  this  purpose,  in  May,  1848,  he  visited 
London,  where,  after  remaining  a  few  weeks,  visit- 
ing the  different  medical  institutions,  he  went  to 
Rotterdam,  in  Holland ;  from  thence  up  the  Rhine 
to  Dusseldorf,  from  thence  to  Hanover,  Brunswick, 
Leipsic  and  Berlin;  from  thence  to  Breslaw  and 
Graffenburgh,  in  Silecia,  to  the  celebrated  water- 
cure  establishment  of  Preissnitz,  from  thence  to 
Vienna.  Here  he  remained  for  some  time,  and 
visited  about  twelve  medical,  scientific  and  humane 
institutions. 

He  now  took  passage  up  the  Danube  to  Lentz ; 
from  thence  through  Bavaria  to  Munich,  to  Stuttgard, 
&c,  passing,  down  the  Rhine  to  Cologne,  to  Brus- 
sels in  Belgium,  from  thence  to  Paris,  in  all  passing 
through  ten  or  twelve  different  kingdoms,  and 
traveling  about  three  thousand  miles,  in  every  place 
visiting  the  public  institutions,  and  gathering  ma- 
terials for  his  newly  revised  work.  He  spent  about 
three  months  in  Paris,  and  has  now  returned  to  Lon- 
don, prosecuting  his  labors  and  making  every 
research  and  investigation  possible,  in  the  hospitals, 
anatomical  museums,  dispensaries,  medical  libra- 
ries, and  exchanging  ideas  with  medical  men  of 


472  RICHARD   WINSLOW. 

different  classes,  to  obtain  every  information  possi- 
ble for  the  work.  Finding  in  London  greater  facili- 
ties and  the  best  artists,  in  the  work  he  employed 
about  six  of  them  to  engrave  his  medical  plants 
and  pathological  drawings. 

Since  the  subject  of  medical  reformation  was  first 
agitated,  a  mighty  revolution  has  taken  place  in  the 
science  of  medicine,  effected  by  the  combined  ef- 
forts of  the  members  of  the  reformed  school,  and 
such  has  been  its  influence  upon  the  minds  of  the 
profession  at  large,  both  in  Europe  and  America; 
that  the  sanguinary  practice  of  blood-letting,  as 
well  as  the  injurious  use  of  metalic  agents,  has  been 
much  less  resorted  to  in  the  treatment  of  disease. 
This  affords  ample  reward  for  all  the  toil,  and 
sacrifices  in  promoting  it.  The  cause  was  feeble 
in  its  birth,  but  stronger  and  bolder  in  its  progress, 
till  now,  under  the  blessing  of  Divine  Providence, 
the  Author  of  all  good,  it  bids  fair,  like  a  mighty 
river,  to  bear  down  all  opposition  and  become  es- 
tablished on  a  lofty  eminence. 


RICHARD  WINSLOW. 

OOD    men    are    remembered    when    the 

memory  of  the  wicked  is  no  more.     The 

following  sketch  of  this  excellent  man,  is 

taken  from  a  sermon  on  the  occasion  of  his 

'death  by  the  Reverend  S.  W  Fisher: 

Richard  Winslow  was  born  near  Saybrook, 
Connecticut,  on  the  24th  of  July,  1771.  His  father, 
Job  Winslow,  was  born  at  Plymouth,  Massachusetts, 
the  residence  of  his  ancestors  for  several  genera- 
tions.    *He  was   a   lineal   descendant   of  Edward 

*  The  subject  of  this  notice  was  the  sixth  in  descent  from  Edward 
Winslow. 


RICHARD   WINSLOW.  473 

Winslow,  one  of  the  original  pilgrim  band,  brought 
by  the  May  Flower  to  Plymouth  Rock,  and  subse- 
quently the  second  governor  of  Plymouth  colony. 
Thus  our  brother  enjoyed  a  relationship  to  those 
noble  men,  who  at  the  cost  of  sacrifices,  to  us  almost 
inconceivable,  laid  the  deep  and  broad  foundations 
of  our  national  existence  and  grandeur.     I  do  not 
state  this  fact  as  a  matter  of  idle  boasting,  but  as 
another  illustration  of  the  faithfulness  of  God  in  re- 
membering the    children's  children  of  those  who 
loved  him,  and  suffered  much  in  his  cause.     This 
is  one  among  many  instances  in  which  you  can 
trace  down  from  generation  to  generation,  a  bright 
succession  of  pious  decendants  from  the  illustrious 
stock  of  the  Puritans.     It  is  this  inheritance   of 
spiritual  benedictions,  that  more  than  all  things  else 
constitutes  a  pious  ancestry  a  glory  and  a  praise. 
Their  prayers  abide,  operative  and  effectual,  long 
after  the  paternal  lips  that  uttered  them  are  sealed 
in  death.     And  when  eternity  has  received  them, 
the  memory  of  their  instructions  and  their  example 
remains  a  track  of  light,  a  pillar  of  fire  to  illuminate, 
and  guide  and  attract  heavenward  the  feet  of  their, 
it  may  be  for  a  time,   erring  children.     This  it  is 
which  makes  our  ancestry  a  crown  of  glory. 

Mr.  Winslow,  animated  by  the  same  spirit  of  en- 
terprise, so  characteristic  of  the  sons  of  New  Eng- 
land— a  spirit  which  has  been  of  incalculable 
advantage  to  the  entire  Union,  in  spreading  every- 
where the  leaven  of  puritanism — early  left  his 
father's  roof  to  push  his  fortunes  in  this  region.  He 
first  settled  in  Troy,  then  a  thriving  village;  but 
after  the  lapse  of  some  seven  years,  he  removed  to 
Albany  in  the  year  1800.  Here,  with  the  exception 
of  short  intervals,  he  has  resided  ever  since.  His 
life  has  been  one  of  great  activity.  Endowed  with 
an  impulsive  and  vigorous  mind,  fond  of  enter- 
prise, with  a  muscular  frame  and  a  good  share  of 
health,  he  loved  to  be  ever  actively  and  efficiently 
60 


474  RICHARD   WINSLOW. 

at  work.  This  trait  in  his  character  revealed  itself 
strikingly  during  the  last  few  months  of  his  life, 
impelling  him,  in  spite  of  the  progress  of  an  enfee- 
bling disease,  to  take  his  accustomed  exercise,  as  if 
he  was  still  in  vigorous  health.  Much  of  his  life 
was  spent  upon  the  water.  For  twenty  years  he 
commanded  a  packet  vessel  on  the  Hudson,  in  the 
days  when  that  mode  of  transportation  sustained 
the  same  relation  to  the  traveling  public,  now 
maintained  by  our  magnificent  steamers.  During 
the  last  war  with  England  he  was  attached  to  the 
army  of  the  north  as  commissary.  He  subsequently 
engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits,  in  which  he  contin- 
ued until  within  the  last  few  years,  when  he  retired  ■ 
from  active  life. 

A  reverse  in  business  first  led  him  to  serious  re- 
flection on  the  vanity  of  this  world,  and  the  neces- 
sity of  obtaining  a  title  to  an  inheritance  that 
would  never  fade  away.  He  became  a  renewed 
man,  and  in  the  year  1818  united  with  the  Second 
Presbyterian  church  of  Albany,  then  under  the  care 
of  the  Reverend  John  Chester.  In  1829  he  formed 
one  of  the  band  who  originated  the  Fourth  Presby- 
terian church.*  In  March  1st,  1837,  he  was  elected 
a  ruling  elder,  and  continued  with  exemplary  fidel- 
ity devoted  to  the  duties  of  this  office  until  his 
death.  He  lived  to  see  his  six  sons  well  settled  in 
life,  and  his  only  daughter  reach  maturity.  He  died 
on  the  9th  day  of  January,  1847,  at  half-past  three 
in  the  afternoon,  of  a  disease  with  which  he  had 
been  occasionally  troubled  for  more  than  forty  years. 
At  his  death,  therefore,  he  was  one  of  the  oldest  in- 
habitants of  Albany,  and  one  of  the  oldest  packet 
masters — a  class  of  men  now  nearly  extinct,  but  who 
before  the  era  of  steam  navigation  were  prominent 
and  influential  in  our  municipal  affairs.  He,  with 
one  exception,  was  the  oldest  member  of  the  session. 
He  has  gone  from  us,  a  father  and  an  elder,  to  that 

*  Formed  February  2d,  1829. 


WORDEN    PAYNE.  475 

world  where  age  renews  its  youth  and  a  perennial 
vigor  precludes  disease  and  forbids  the  approach  of 
death." 

His  respected  Avidow  still  survives,  and  is  a  resi- 
dent of  Albany. 


WORDEN  PAYNE, 

N  excellent  man,  after  an  honored  and 
useful  life,  died  at  his  residence  in 
Hounsfield,  Jefferson  county,  New 
York,  March  3d,  1849,  in  the  55th  year 
of  his  age. 
During  his  eventful  career,  the  deceased 
.took  a  prominent  part  in  public  affairs.  He 
was  one  of  the  early  settlers  and  pioneers  in 
what  is  known  as  the  Black  river  country, 
having  removed  there  in  1803  from  the  state  of 
Massachusetts.  By  dint  of  perseverance,  industry 
and  honest  dealing  he  became  well  off  as  to  this 
world's  goods,  and  made  use  of  the  means  which 
Providence  had  thus  placed  in  his  power,  in  a  man- 
ner which  will  long  be  remembered  by  the  recipients 
of  his  bounty.  He  was  emphatically  the  poor  man's 
friend,  casting  his  bread  upon  the  waters  with  a 
liberal  hand,  and  ere  this,  we  have  every  reason  to 
hope,  "  it  has  been  returned  unto  him  seven  fold." 
Pending  the  war  of  1812,  Mr.  Payne  volunteered 
to  raise  a  company  of  infantry,  and  meeting  with 
success,  he  was  unanimously  selected  as  the  cap- 
tain. His  company  was  immediately  enrolled  in 
the  regiment  commanded  by  General  Jacob  Brown, 
and  was  efficiently  and  bravely  engaged  in  the  bat- 
tle of  Sackett's  harbor.  Mr.  Payne  has  always 
enjoyed  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  his  neighbors, 
and  has  been  repeatedly  elected  to  various  town 


476  R-   B.   DUNN. 

and  county  offices,  the  duties  of  which  he  fulfilled 
with  promptness  and  energy.  He  died  after  a  ling- 
ering illness,  which  he  bore  with  Christian  patience 
and  fortitude,  and  although  his  spirit  has  departed  to 
"  that  bourne  from  whence  no  traveler  returns,"  yet 
the  memory  of  his  good  deeds  will  live  in  the  minds 
of  men  for  years  after  the  grass  shall  have  waved 
over  his  last  resting  place.  His  children  and  his 
children's  children  may,  indeed,  look  back  with  an 
honest  pride  to  their  ancestor,  who  was,  emphati- 
cally, a  man  without  reproach. 

George  It.  Payne  of  Albany  is  a^brother  of  the 
deceased. 


It.  B.  DUNN. 


ET  not  the  day  of  small  things  be  despised. 
This  sentence  contains  wisdom  and  philo- 
sophy, as  well  as  scripture.  It  is  very  easy 
,and  natural  to  sneer  at  small  beginnings  and 
humble  means,  but  it  is  not  always  wise  to  do 
so.  It  is  better  to  commence  on  an  humble 
scale,  and  come  out  in  good  style  at  last,  than  to 
suffer  a  severe  collapse  after  an  extensive  and 
ridiculous  flourish.  Some  men  will  do  better  with 
a  capital  of  sixpence,  than  they  would  if  half  the 
fortune  of  Astor  had  been  given  them  to  commence 
with.  We  have  heard  it  told  of  a  man  worth  his 
millions,  that  he  commenced  by  selling  fruit  at  a 
street  stall.  We  have  seen  boys  at  school  roll  a 
handful  of  snow  upon  the  ground,  till  by  accumu- 
lated matter,  it  became  so  bulky  that  a  dozen  could 
scarcely  move  it.  Sands  make  the  mountains,  mo- 
ments make  the  year,  drops  make  the  ocean;  and 
so,  little  endeavors,  earnestly,  unceasingly,  and 
honestly  put  forth,  make  the  great  men  in  the 
world's  history. 


R.    B.    DUNN.  477 

It  is  related  of  Chantrey,  the  celebrated  sculptor, 
that,  when  a  boy,  he  was  observed  by  a  gentleman 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Sheffield  very  attentively 
engaged  in  cutting  a  stick  with  a  penknife.  He 
asked  the  lad  what  he  was  doing ;  when,  with  great 
courtesy,  he  replied,  "I  am  cutting  old  Fox's  head." 
Fox  was  the  schoolmaster  of  the  village.  On  this 
the  gentleman  asked  to  see  what  he  had  done,  and 
pronouncing  it  to  be  an  excellent  likeness,  gave  the 
youth  a  six-pence.  And  this  may  be  reckoned  the 
first  money  Chantrey  ever  received  for  the  produc- 
tion of  his  art. 

This  anecdote  is  but  one  of  a  thousand  that 
might  be  cited  of  as  many  different  men  who  from 
very  limited  and  small  beginnings  rise  to  stations 
and  influence;  and  shows  the  importance  of  not 
despising  the  day  of  small  things,  in  any  condition 
or  circumstance  of  life.  All  nature,  in  fact,  is  full 
of  instructive  lessons  on  this  point,  which  it  would 
be  well  for  us  more  thoroughly  to  study  and  appre- 
ciate. 

Perhaps  a  more  striking  illustration  of  the  above 
remark  can  not  be  found  than  in  the  enterprising 
individual  whose  name  is  at  the  head-  of  this 
sketch. 

North  Wayne,  in  the  State  of  Maine,  three  years 
ago,  was  unknown  in  gazetteers  or  by  map-makers. 
Mr.  R.  B.  Dunn  arrived  there  with  small  means, 
great  enterprise  and  perseverance.  He  measured 
the  fall  of  the  idle  river  for  water-power.  He  found 
sufficient  for  a  large  business  of  any  nature.  He 
commenced  a  small  establishment  to  manufacture 
scythes  and  axes.  He  succeeded  well,  and  now 
there  are  three  immense  factories  there,  two  of  them 
each  one  hundred  feet  long.  He  makes  twelve 
thousand  dozen  of  scythes  annually,  and  uses  up 
four  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds  of  iron, 
seventy-five  thousand  pounds  of  steel,  twelve  thou- 
sand tons  of  coal,  twelve  thousand  bushels  of  char- 


478  JOHN   ALBRIGHT. 

coal,  and  one  hundred  tons  of  grindstones,  and 
employs  two  hundred  and  fifty  persons  about  the 
establishments.  Next  year,  he  calculates  to  make 
ssventeen  thousand  dozen  of  scythes.  This  place 
is  sixteen  miles  from  the  nearest  steam  boat  naviga- 
tion on  the  Kenebec.  All  his  materials  are  brought 
from  England,  Pennsylvania  and  Nova  Scotia, 
except  charcoal,  and  his  market  extends  to  the 
remotest  bounds  of  the  West. 


JOHN  ALBRIGHT. 

j"ARCH  2,  1845,  at  East  Homer,  New  York, 
John  Albright,  a  revolutionary  patriot, 
_  breathed  his  last.  At  an  early  age  he  en- 
gaged in  the  service  of  his  country  during  her 
revolutionary  struggle;  was  twice  taken  pri- 
soner, once  by  the  British  at  Fort  Montgomery 
and  exchanged  at  New  York,  and  immediately  re- 
turned to  the  army,  and  then  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Indians  at  Fort  Stanwix,  and  was  then  prisoner 
eighteen  months  in  Canada.  In  his  captivity  and 
service  he  paid  almost  every  thing  but  life  for 
American  liberty.  Forty-eight  years  ago'he  settled 
on  the  land  he  drew  for  his  services  in  that  town, 
where  he  has  filled  up  his  measure  Avith  credit  to 
himself  and  usefulness  to  others.  He  embraced  the 
Christian  religion  soon  after  his  settlement  in  Homer, 
and  liberally  contributed  to  its  interests  through 
life,  and  in  his  death  his  numerous  offspring  do  not 
sorrow  as  those  without  hope.  He  maintained  an 
unbending  attachment  to  civil  and  religious  liberty 
to  the  last.  He  was  most  emphatically  the  poor 
man's  friend,  as  many  have  most  sensibly  felt.  His 
death  is  widely  lamented,  for  a  man  of  more  hum- 
ble character  seldom  lived. 


LYDIA    GUSTIN.  479 


LYDIA  GUSTIN. 

CONNECTICUT  is  the  native  state  of  this  lady. 

"  She  was  born  at  Lyme  on  the  25th  of  June, 
1746.  Her  maiden  name  was  Mack.  In 
?her  twenty-third  year  she  married  John  Gustin, 
who  died  about  thirty  years  ago. 

Mrs.  Gustin  was  always  a  hard  worker,  and 
during  her  hundredth  year  she  knit  twenty-four 
pair  of  stockings.  She  was  the  mother  of  five 
children,  all  of  whom  attained  maturity.  The 
second  child  died  a  few  years  since,  aged  seventy- 
three.  The  younger,  a  son  with  whom  she  lived,  is 
sixty-five,  and  the  eldest  child,  now  living,  is  eighty- 
three.  All  her  children  were  at  home  the  day  she 
was  an  hundred  years  old.  She  remembered  the  old 
French  war,  and  distinctly  recollected  a  circumstace 
at  school  when  she  was  but  three  years  old.  She 
has  left  several  descendants  of  the  fifth  generation. 
One  of  the  sisters  lived  to  the  age  of  seventy-seven. 
Mrs.  Gustin  died  at  Marlow,  New  Hampshire,  on 
the  20th  of  July,  1847,  aged  one  hundred  and  one 
years  and  twenty-five  days. 


GILBERT  RAY, 


NOWN  as  a  patriot  of  the  revolution,  and 
|    one  of  the  last  survivors  of  that  heroic  band, 
it,  who,  in  the  hour  of  our  country's  darkness 
and  danger,  periled  life  and  limb  for  the  cause 
of  American  freedom,  was  born  in  Wrentham, 
Massachusetts. 
For  upwards  of  twenty  years,  Deacon  Ray  resided 
in  Tinmouth,  Vermont,   and  thence  removed  to 


480  GILBERT   RAY. 

North  Russell,  twenty-two  years  ago.  For  nearly 
fifty  years  he  was  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  and  a  deacon  in  the  same  nearly  forty,  and 
from  the  time  of  his  conversion  to  his  death  he  was  a 
strict  observer  of  the  ordinances  of  the  Christian  faith, 
and  a  devoted  friend  of  missions,  sabbath  schools 
and  other  religious  and  benevolent  objects.  He 
lived  to  receive  from  his  country  a  pecuniary  reward 
for  his  revolutionary  toils,  and,  at  last,  full  of  con- 
fidence and  hope  in  the  Saviour's  promises,  sunk 
peacefully  into  the  arms  of  death. 

He  died  March  17th,  1849,  at  North  Russell,  New 
York,  in  the  eighty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  leaving  an 
aged  widow,  with  whom  he  had  lived  sixty-three 
years,  and  reared  a  family  of  eleven  children.  His 
descendants  number  upwards  of  one  hundred. 


ill  iii 


A  BRIEF  CHRONOLOGY 


OF    THE 


LIFE  OF  HON.  ZADOCK  PRATT,  A.  M. 


1790,  Oct.  30.  Bom  at  Stephentown,  Rensselaer  county, 
New  York,  and  in  his  early  days  worked  with  his  father  at  tan- 
ning, at  Middleburgh,  Scoharie  county,  N.  Y. 

1799.     Was  at  the  funeral  of  Gen.  Washington. 

1802.  Removed  to  Windham,  now  Lexington,  Greene  county, 
N.  Y. 

1810.  Apprenticed  to  Luther  Hays,  a  saddler,  in  Durham. 

1811.  Worked  at  his  trade  a  year  as  a  journeyman  saddler, 
at  $10  a  month. 

1812.  Commenced  business  on  his  own  account  in  Lexing- 
ton, as  a  saddler,  working  from  fourteen  to  sixteen  hours  a  day. 
Here  he  commenced  keeping  an  inventory,  which  he  ever  prac- 
ticed afterwards  during  life,  making  over  $500  the  first  year, 
and  never  less  a  single  year  afterwards. 

1814.  Adds  merchandizing  to  his  saddling,  and,  by  diligence 
and  the  strictest  economy,  is  successful. 

1814.  Went  as  a  soldier  for  the  defence  of  New  York  city, 
then  menaced  by  the  fleets  of  the  enemy  ;  while  there,  he  re- 
sists the  corruption  of  the  commissary,  and  forces  him  to  do 
justice  to  the  soldiers. 

1815.  Sells  out  his  stock  in  trade,  and  is  fortunate  in  escap- 
ing loss  from  the  commercial  revulsion  which  followed  the 
peace  ;  forms  a  partnership  with  his  two  brothers  in  tanning. 

1818,  Oct.  18.  Is  married  to  Miss  Beda  Dickerman,  of 
Hampden,  Conn.,  who  died  19th  April,  1819. 

1818,  Dec.  Makes  a  voyage  by  sea  to  Charleston,  S.  C.  ; 
sea-sick  going,  and  sea-sick  coming ;  learnt  enough  of  sea- 
faring life. 

1821,  April  21.  Unanimously  chosen  captain  in  the  fifth 
regiment  of  New  York  State  Artillery,  and  uniforms  the  com- 
pany at  his  own  expense. 


10*  A    BRIEF*    CHRONOLOGY    OF    THE 

1821 »  In  the  winter  of  this  year  makes  an  excursion  to 
Canada,  with  leather.,  for  the  purchase  of  furs,  during  which  he 
encamps  in  the  woods  upon  the  snow.  Returning,  is  taken  by 
a  landlord  at  Albany  to  be  a  wanderer,  not  entitled  to  hospital- 
ity, on  account  of  his  worn  and  soiled  garments,  but  who,  on 
finding  him  possessed  of  a  heavy  bag  of  dollars,  suddenly  be- 
comes the  pink  of  politeness  to  our  traveller. 

1822.  July  12.  Is  unanimously  elected  Colonel  of  the  116th 
regiment  of  infantry  of  the  State  of  New  York. 

1823.  Is  married  to  his  second  wife,  Miss  Esther  Dicker- 
man,  sister  to  his  first  wife  ;  she  died  22d  April,  1826. 

1824.  Is  appointed  Justice  of  the  Peace  for  the  county  of 
Greene. 

1824,  Oct.  6.  Received  a  vote  of  thanks  from  the  Presby^ 
tery  at  Lexington,  for  a  donation  of  $100  in  aid  of  the  mission- 
ary cause. 

1825.  Built  his  great  tannery  in  the  woods  of  Windham, 
where  has  since  grown  up  under  his  auspices  the  flourishing 
village  of  Prattsville,  now  numbering  2000  inhabitants,  as  in- 
dustrious, prosperous  and  happy  as  any  in  the  State — having 
now  three  churches,  to  the  expense  of  each  he  contributed  one- 
third,  and  one-half  to  the  Academy. 

1825,  Escorts  Gen.  Lafayette  into  Catskill. 

1826,  Sept.  4.  Resigns  his  commission  as  Colonel  of  Militia 
to  the  Governor  of  the  State. 

1827,  Oct.  12.  Is  married  to  his  third  wife,  Miss  Abigail 
P.  Watson,  daughter  of  Wheeler  Watson,  Esq.,  of  Rensselaer. 
She  died  Feb.  5,  1834. 

1827.     Is  elected  Supervisor  of  the  town  of  Windham. 

1825 — 1835.  This  was  the  busy  scene  of  life — from  35  to 
45  years  of  age — during  which  he  accumulated  a  large  portion 
of  his  wealth. 

1832.  The  town  of  Windham  divided,  and  the  westerly 
portion  called  Prattsville,  after  the  name  of  the  founder* 

1835,  March  16.  Married  his  fourth  wife,  Miss  Mary  E. 
Watson,  sister  of  his  third  consort. 

1835.  Receives  the  thanks  of  the  Delaware  Circuit  for  the 
donation  of  a  lot  of  ground  for  the  use  of  the  Elder  of  that 
Circuit. 

1836,  March.  Builds  a  bridge  over  Scoharie  kill,  130  feet 
long,  the  snow  three  feet  deep  in  the  woods,  in  eleven  daysj 
without  the  use  of  ardent  spirits. 

1836,  Nov.     Is  elected  a  Representative  in  Congress  from 


LIFE    OF    HON.    ZADOCK    PRATT.  *11 

the  Eighth  Congressional  District  of  New  York.  At  the  same 
election  was  chosen  one  of  the  Electors  of  President  and  Vice 
President  from  New  York,  and  gave  his  vote  for  Van  Buren 
and  Johnson. 

1837,  Sept.  4.  Takes  his  seat  in  Congress  at  the  extra 
session,  called  by  Mr.  Van  Buren. 

1837,  Sept.  4.  Is  appointed  one  of  the  standing  committee 
on  the  militia. 

1837,  Oct.  Receives  the  silver  medal  of  the  New  York  In- 
stitute, being  the  first  ever  granted  to  a  tanner,  for  the  best 
specimen  of  hemlock-tanned  sole  leather. 

1837,  Dec.  11.  Is  appointed  one  of  the  standing  committee 
on  public  buildings  and  grounds. 

1838,  March  11.  Moved  a  resolution  in  favor  of  the  reduc- 
tion of  postage,  thus  originating  a  great  and  favorite  measure, 
which  he  rejoiced  to  see  accomplished,  and  which  has  proved 
of  such  vast  benefit  to  the  whole  United  States. 

1838,  March  12.  Presented  the  resolution  of  the  State  of 
New  York,  and  submitted  a  resolution  providing  for  procuring 
foreign  seeds  and  plants,  to  be  distributed  gratuitously  to  the 
farmers  of  the  United  States,  through  the  medium  of  the  Patent 
Office,  to  benefit  the  farming  interests. 

1838,  July  4th.  Publishes  an  address  to  his  constituents, 
partially  reviewing  the  proceedings  in  Congress,  and  declining 
a  re-election. 

1839,  Jan.  28.  Moved  a  resolution  of  inquiry  respecting 
the  material  of  which  the  public  buildings  at  Washington  are 
constructed. 

1839,  Feb.  25.  Presented  a  report  on  the  quality  of  the 
materials  used  in  constructing  the  public  buildings  at  Wash- 
ington, concluding  with  a  resolution  that  the  material  hereafter 
used  for  that  purpose,  shall  be  of  the  hardest  and  most  durable 
kind,  either  marble  or  granite.  At  the  same  time  he  submitted 
a  plan  and  estimates  for  the  new  General  Post-Office,  and  that 
building,  the  finest  in  Washington,  has  since  been  erected  of 
marble,  according  to  his  plan,  and  is  said  to  be  the  finest  build- 
ing in  the  world. 

1839,  March  1.  Delivers  a  speech  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, on  the  subject  of  constructing  a  Dry  Dock  at  Brook- 
lyn, full  of  valuable  statistics,  on  commerce,  navigation,  imports, 
exports  and  bullion,  for  ten  years. 

1839.  Moved  the  bill  for  establishing  a  Branch  Mint  in  the 
city  of  New  York. 


12*  A    BRIEF    CHRONOLOGY    OF    THE 

1839,  July  4.     Delivers  an  oration  at  Prattsville. 

1839,  Sept.  Was  elected  a  member  of  the  American  Insti- 
tute. 

1839,  Oct.  25.  Offers  five  thousand  dollars  to  endow  an 
Academy  in  Prattsville,  on  condition  that  the  like  sum  be  raised 
by  any  Christian  denomination. 

1842,  Nov.  Is  chosen  a  Representative  in  Congress  from 
the  Eleventh  Congressional  District  of  New  York. 

1842,  Dec.  29.  Delivers  an  address  before  the  Mechanics' 
Society  at  Catskill,  of  which  he  was  a  member. 

1843,  Establishes  a  Bank  at  Prattsville,  with  $100,000 
capital,  wholly  secured  by  6  and  7  per  cent,  stocks  of  the 
United  States  and  State  of  New  York — its  bills  kept  at  par  in 
the  city  of  New  York. 

1844,  Jan.  3.  Offers  resolution  providing  for  uniform  annual 
returns  of  banks,  suitable  forms  to  be  furnished  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  the  Treasury,  in  order  that  a  more  perfect  system 
might  be  adopted  for  the  benefit  of  the  community.  He  offered 
a  similar  resolution  11th  Jan.,  1839. 

1844,  Jan.  8.  Moved  an  amendment  to  the  resolution  in 
favor  of  the  remission  of  the  fine  upon  Gen.  Jackson,  to  place 
on  record  the  fact,  that  fifteen  out  of  seventeen  millions  of  the 
inhabitants  of  the  United  States  had  so  instructed  their  delega- 
tions in  Congress. 

1844,  Jan.  12.  Gives  notice  of  offering  a  bill  for  establish- 
ing a  Branch  Mint  at  New  York  ;  same  day,  gave  notice  for  bill 
amending  naturalization  laws,  which  were  afterwards  presented. 

1844,  Jan.  17.  Presented  the  resolutions  of  the  Legislature 
of  the  State  of  New  York  to  remit  the  fine  of  Gen.  Jackson. 

1844,  Jan.  29.  Moved  the  appointment  of  a  select  com- 
mittee to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of  establishing  a  Bureau 
of  Statistics  and  Commerce,  in  connection  with  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury.     Is  appointed  chairman  of  said  committee. 

1844,  Jan.  Elected  President  of  the  Greene  County  Agri- 
cultural Society. 

1844,  Feb.  Was  on  board  the  Princeton  at  the  time  of  the 
explosion  of  its  great  gun,  when  Messrs.  Upshur,  Gilmer,  and 
others  were  killed — and  was  the  first  man  who  had  nerve,  and 
was  collected  enough  to  attend  at  once  to  the  care  of  the  unfor- 
tunate killed  and  wounded. 

1844,  March  7.  Makes  a  report  on  the  application  of  the 
citizens  of  Washington  to  have  a  clock  furnished  at  the  public 
expense. 


LIFE    OF    HON.    ZADOCK    PRATT.  *13 

1844,  March  7.  Makes  a  report  on  the  situation,  cost,  &c, 
of  the  public  buildings  and  grounds,  and  expenditures  of  the 
Presidential  Mansion. 

1844,  March  8.  Submits  a  report  as  chairman  of  the  select 
committee  on  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  and  Commerce,  with 
valuable  tables,  showing  the  loans  and  discounts  of  the  banks, 
imports  and  exports,  and  balance  of  trade,  for  a  series  of  years, 
of  our  government  with  other  nations,  illustrating  the  import- 
ance of  the  proposed  measure,  and  concluding  with  a  bill  to 
provide  for  the  collection  of  national  statistics. 

1844,  March  18.  Moved  resolution  respecting  care  and 
management  of  the  furnaces  used  to  heat  the  halls  and  rooms 
of  the  Capitol. 

1844,  April  12.  Offers  a  joint  resolution  for  the  appropria- 
tion of  the  public  ground  for  a  National  Monument. 

1844,  April  12.  Reported  bill  for  an  addition  of  a  wing  to 
the  Patent  Office. 

1844,  April  12.  Makes  additional  report  on  the  plan  sub- 
mitted by  him  for  fire-proof  buildings  for  the  War  and  Navy 
Departments. 

1844,  May  15.  Moved  joint  resolution  authorizing  the 
transfer  of  certain  clerks  in  the  treasury  department  to  perform 
the  duties  of  the  bureau  of  statistics,  agreeably  to  the  report  of 
the  select  committee  on  that  subject,  which  resolution  was 
adopted. 

1844,  May  24.  Makes  report,  with  plan  and  estimates,  on 
the  proposed  change  of  the  Hall  and  Library  of  the  House  of 
Representatives. 

1844,  May  25.  Makes  report  on  the  expenditures  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  from  the  foundation  of  the  government, 
showing  an  expenditure  exceeding  ten  millions  of  dollars. 

1844,  May  25.  Makes  report  on  the  Monument  Square, 
submitting  a  plan,  diagram,  and  drawing  for  a  National  Monu- 
ment to  Washington. 

1844,  May  25.  Moved  joint  resolution  requiring  an  inven- 
tory once  in  two  years,  of  all  public  property  to  be  returned 
from  all  persons  having  any  in  charge,  in  order  that  public 
officers  and  legislators  might  have  a  more  perfect  knowledge  of 
the  property  in  charge  of  the  government. 

1844,  May  25.  Made  report,  accompanied  with  a  joint  re- 
solution providing  for  the  laying  out  and  fencing  the  Monument 
Square. 

1844,  June  5.     Offers  joint  resolution  providing  for  the  mode 


14*  A    BRIEF    CHRONOLOGY    OF    THE 

of  making  returns  of  public  property  in  possession  of  officers  of 
the  government. 

1844,  June  7.  Moved  a  joint  resolution  for  the  preparing 
and  distribution  of  the  national  medals  to  the  state  libraries, 
colleges  and  academies. 

1844,  June  7.  Moved  resolution  providing  that  monuments 
hereafter  erected  to  deceased  members  of  Congress,  should  be 
constructed  of  marble  instead  of  sandstone,  heretofore  used. 

1844,  June  7.  Moved  a  resolution  directing  topographical 
bureau  to  cause  a  plan  of  the  city  of  Washington,  and  views 
of  the  capitol  and  public  buildings  to  be  engraved,  and  copies 
to  be  sent  as  presents  by  ministers  and  consuls,  to  foreign 
courts,  translated  into  their  languages. 

1844,  June  15.  Resolution  adopted  on  his  motion,  provid- 
ing for  the  collection  of  statistics,  on  the  plan  of  the  bureau 
submitted  in  his  report  of  the  8th  of  March. 

1844,  June  17.  Makes  report  on  the  errors  in  the  sixth 
census. 

1844,  August  29.  The  democratic  convention  in  Greene 
county  passed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Col.  Pratt  for  his  eminent 
public  services,  and  untiring  devotion  to  the  business  of  the 
present  session  of  Congress,  and  especially  in  placing  on  record 
the  fact  that  more  than  14,000,000  of  American  freemen  had 
instructed  their  representatives  to  vote  for  refunding  to  Gen. 
Jackson  the  fine  imposed  upon  him  while  fighting  for  his  coun- 
try at  New  Orleans.  In  establishing  a  Bureau  of  Statistics, 
which  is  of  incalculable  benefit  to  Legislation — to  government 
in  all  its  departments,  and  to  the  business  men  of  the  country. 
In  causing  a  resolution  to  be  passed,  by  which  the  inventions 
of  our  mechanics  which  are  patented  are  to  be  lithographed 
and  furnished  to  each  town  free  of  expense.  For  his  admir- 
able taste  in  the  construction  of  public  buildings,  in  the  laying 
out  and  disposition  of  the  public  grounds,  and  in  the  surpass- 
ingly beautiful  monument  to  the  memory  of  Washington.  In 
the  various  and  able  reports  from  time  to  time  submitted  by 
him  to  that  body,  and  finally  in  causing  government  like  indi- 
viduals to  take  and  keep  an  inventory  of  the  property  of  the 
nation. 

1844,  December  4.     Moved  a  resolution  authorizing  the  sec 
retary  of  war  to  loan  marquees  and  tents  to  state  agricultural 
societies  for  their  fairs. 

1844,  December  26.  Introduced  joint  resolution  providing 
for  periodical  renewals  and  greater  security  of  bonds  of  public 
officers. 


LIFE    OF    HON.    ZADOCK    PRATT.  *15 

1844,  December  31.  Moved  joint  resolution  providing  for 
the  selection  of  a  site  for  the  National  Washington  Monument. 

1844,  Dec.  31.  Makes  report  on  the  necessity  of  providing 
additional  buildings  for  the  accommodation  of  the  War  and 
Navy  Departments. 

1845,  January  10.  Reports  bill  providing  for  the  painting, 
repairing,  &c,  of  the  Presidential  Mansion,  and  other  public 
buildings. 

1845,  Jan.  11.  Received  vote  of  thanks  from  the  Washing- 
ton Monument  Society,  for  his  untiring  exertions  in  their  be- 
half, and  for  the  plan  and  map  by  him  submitted. 

1845,  January  28.  Offers  joint  resolution  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  flags,  and  other  trophies  taken  in  battle. 

1845,  January  28.  Makes  report  on  national  trophies,  ac- 
companied with  the  above  resolution. 

1845,  January  28.  Makes  report  with  plans  and  drawings, 
and  estimates  for  the  War  and  Navy  Department,  accompanied 
with  bill. 

1845,  January  28.  With  introductory  remarks,  presents 
the  memorial  of  Asa  Whitney,  on  the  importance  of  a  National 
Railroad  to  the  Pacific. 

1845,  January  28.  Submits  reports  on  the  ventilation  of  the 
Representatives'  Hall,  and  to  prevent  the  echo  so  much  com- 
plained of  by  speakers. 

1845,  February  7.  Submits  additional  report  on  the  im- 
portance of  a  statistical  bureau,  accompanied  with  a  joint  reso- 
lution for  the  establishment  of  the  same. 

1845,  February  15.  Submits  proposition  for  the  extension 
of  American  commerce,  and  proposing  a  mission  to  Corea  and 
Japan,  a  people  of  over  seventy  millions,  with  whom  we  have 
no  communication,  and  whose  ports  our  ships  are  not  allowed  to 
enter. 

1845,  February  19.  Presents  a  memorial  from  forty-seven 
editors  and  authors  in  favor  of  placing  magazines  and  periodi- 
cals on  the  same  footing  with  newspapers  as  respects  mail 
privileges,  in  furtherance  of  his  plan  of  providing  for  a  cheap 
and  uniform  postage. 

1845,  February  21.  Moved  resolution  for  the  appointment 
of  three  commissioners  to  investigate  the  public  departments 
and  bureaux  at  Washington,  with  a  view  to  a  better  organiza- 
tion, and  an  equalization  of  duties  and  salaries  of  public  officers. 

1845.  Moved  estimates  and  plan  for  erecting  dwellings  for 
the  five  heads  of  departments,  opposite  the  Presidential  Mansion. 


16*  A    BRIEF    CHRONOLOGY    OF    THE 

1845,  February  25.  Makes  report  on  the  statistics  of  the 
United  States,  the  population,  revenue,  production,  and  show- 
ing  the  relative  condition  of  the  northern  and  southern  states. 

1845,  February  25.  Makes  a  report  on  the  national  edifices 
at  Washington. 

1845,  February.  That  three  Commissioners  be  appointed 
whose  duty  it  shall  be,  during  the  recess  of  Congress,  to  ex- 
amine into  all  the  departments  in  the  various  offices  of  govern- 
ment, with  the  view  of  remodelling  said  departments,  for  the 
purpose  of  equalizing  salaries  and  duties. 

1845,  February  26.  Reports  a  bill  for  amendment  of  the 
naturalization  laws. 

1845,  February  27.  Moved  an  amendment  to  the  general 
appropriation  bill,  providing  for  the  survey,  under  direction  of 
the  Secretary  of  War,  of  a  rail  road  route  from  Lake  Michigan 
to  the  South  Pass  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  to  Oregon. 

1845,  February  28.  Moved  a  bill  respecting  the  Smithson- 
ian Institute,  the  substance  of  which  has  since  become  a  law, 
providing  that  a  portion  of  the  income  of  the  Smithsonian  fund 
should  be  appropriated  for  the  improvement  of  agriculture  and 
the  mechanic  arts. 

1845,  March  3.  Makes  report  on  the  salaries  of  all  the 
officers  employed  at  Washington,  showing  the  amount  received 
by  each,  and  the  states  from  which  they  were  appointed. 

1845,  March  3.  Makes  report  on  the  duties  upon  imports 
and  tonnage  and  revenue,  by  states,  showing  the  amount  col- 
lected each  year,  from  the  foundation  of  the  government. 

1845,  March  3.  Makes  report  on  a  proposed  new  mode  of 
taking  the  yeas  and  nays  in  the  House,  by  machinery  connected 
with  the  Speaker's  table. 

1845,  March  5.  In  an  address  to  his  constituents,  review- 
ing his  acts  while  in  Congress,  and  giving  an  account  of  his 
stewardship,  he  declines  a  re-election  to  Congress. 

1845,  June.  Receives  thanks  of  the  Greene  County  Agri- 
cultural Society  for  a  donation  of  $250,  for  the  promotion  of 
agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts. 

1845,  July  1.  Is  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the  Frank- 
lin Institute  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  (in  the  city  of  Phila- 
delphia,) for  the  promotion  of  the  mechanic  arts. 

1845,  September  25.  Delivers  an  address  before  the  Greene 
Count}r  Agricultural  Society,  of  which  he  was  President. 

1845.     Offers   resolution   providing   for   the   engraving   of 


LIFE    OF    HON.    ZADOCK    PRATT.  *17 

patents,  and  their  distribution  to  every  town  and  county 
and  public  library  in  the  United  States,  for  the  benefit  of 
mechanics,  to  whom  those  inestimable  plans  are  now  like  a 
sealed  book. 

1845.  Offers  a  resolution  providing  for  the  execution  of 
busts,  by  native  artists,  of  all  the  Presidents,  to  be  placed  in 
the  Capitol. 

1845.  Moves  a  bill  providing  for  the  establishment  of  the 
free  banking  system  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  similar  to  the 
free  banking  law  of  New  York. 

1845.  Offers  a  resolution  calling  on  the  secretary  of  state 
to  furnish  the  statistics  of  Texas,  pending  her  admission  into 
the  Union. 

1845.  Is  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the  Peithessophian 
Society  of  Rutgers  College,  New  Jersey. 

1846.  Received  a  similar  honor  from  Middletown  College, 
Connecticut. 

1846.  Closed  the  concerns  of  his  tannery  at  Prattsville, 
after  tanning  over  a  million  sides  of  sole  leather,  using  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  cords  of  bark,  from  ten  square 
miles  of  bark  land,  and  clearing  over  five  thousand  acres, 
one  thousand  years  of  labor,  and  some  $6,000,000  of  money, 
without  a  litigated  law-suit,  or  having  a  single  side  stolen. 

1846.  Elected  honorary  member  of  the  Louisiana  State 
Agricultural  and  Mechanics'  Association. 

1846.  Is  elected  a  corresponding  member  of  the  American 
Agricultural  Association. 

1847,  March.  With  a  view  of  acquiring,  from  personal  ob- 
servation, a  practical  knowledge  of  the  peculiar  institutions  of 
the  south,  as  compared  with  those  of  the  north,  makes  a  tour 
with  his  son,  then  a  lad  of  eighteen,  through  the  whole  of  the 
southern  and  south-western  states. 

1847,  August  28.  Addresses  a  letter  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  on  the  importance  of  a  railroad  across  the  con- 
tinent to  the  Pacific  ocean. 

1847,  September  23.  Delivers  an  address  at  the  dedication 
of  the  Spencertown  Academy. 

1847,  November  22.  Receives  thanks  from  Spencertown 
Academy,  for  a  liberal  donation. 

1847,  November  27.  Communication  in  answer  to  an  inquiry 
of  the  American  Institute,  explaining  the  system  of  the  Pratts- 


18*     CHRONOLOGY  OF  THE  LIFE  OF  ZADOCK  PRATT. 

ville  tannery,  of  its  management,  and  the  extent  of  its  opera- 
tions. 

1848,  January  4.  Delivers  a  lecture  before  the  Mercantile 
Library  Association  of  the  city  of  Hudson.  Subject  :  Mind 
your  business. 

1848,  January  4.  At  the  annual  meeting  of  the  Greene 
County  Agricultural  Society,  held  at  Cairo,  it  was — Resolved, 
That  the  thanks  of  the  Greene  Co.  Agricultural  Society  be 
tendered  to  the  Hon.  Zadock  Pratt,  late  President,  for  his 
valuable  services  and  able  superintendence  of  the  affairs  of  the 
said  society  ;  and  also — Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  said 
society  be  presented  to  Hon.  Zadock  Pratt  for  his  liberal  dona- 
tions in  sustaining  and  carrying  out  the  measures  and  objects 
of  6aid  society. 

1848,  January  14.  Received  the  thanks  of  the  Greene  Co. 
Baptist  Missionary  Society,  for  donation. 

1848.  The  American  Biographical  Sketch  Book,  containing 
the  lives  of  130  eminent  citizens,  with  portraits,  was  dedicated 
by  the  Editor,  Wm.  Hunt,  Esq.,  "  To  Zadock  Pratt,  the 
Friend  of  the  Mechanic,  and  the  Patron  of  all  that  is  useful. " 
This  same  year,  "  Scientific  Agriculture,  or  the  Elements  of 
Chemistry,  Botany,  and  Meteorology,  applied  to  Practical 
Agriculture,  by  M.  M.  Rodgers,  M.  D.,"  was  dedicated  to 
Hon.  Zadock  Pratt. 

1848.  Makes  the  third  annual  report  to  the  N.  Y.  State 
Agricultural  society,  as  president  of  the  Greene  County  Agri- 
cultural Society,  giving  the  geological,  agricultural  and  com- 
mercial statistics  of  the  county  of  Greene. 

1848,  March  7.  Is  elected  a  corresponding  member  of  the 
New  York  Historical  Society. 

1848,  July  23.  Received  the  honorary  degree  of  Master  of 
Arts  from  Union  College  ;  the  first  instance  in  this  state  of  a 
similar  honor  conferred  upon  a  self-taught  mechanic. 

1849,  January  2.  Elected  President  of  the  Mechanics  In- 
stitute of  the  city  of  New  York. 

1849,  January  16.  Delivers  an  address  on  his  inauguration 
as  President  of  the  Mechanics  Institute,  City  Hall,  N.  York. 


This  book  is  due  two  weeks  from  the  last  date  stamped 
below,  and  if  not  returned  at  or  before  that  time  a  fine  of 
five  cents  a  day  will  be  incurred. 


JUN25» 


Ws>\^> 


Hunt 

32.7.3  H3\5 


